My Guardian
by Iceclaw14
Summary: Firestar, she's not here, Sandstorm's not in StarClan" The daughters of the legendary Firestar have always been alone, buried in shadows. The two sisters go on a journey to find the truth, themselves, and most importantly, their mother.Summary in profile.
1. Alone

Iceclaw: Hey! This is my first Warriors story, I am really proud of it. I accept CC, I've been thinking of this story for a while so I think it is as good as I can get it. I know the first chapter might not make much sense, but it'll clear up. In this story, Firestar knows about Place of no Stars, okay? This chapter takes place between the last chapter of _Firestar's Quest_ and the epilogue of that same book. Later it will be during Midnight, if you haven't read FQ this will make no sense to you, just make sure you have a good memory of what happened. You're going to have to remember a lot of things… Disclaimer: Erin Hunter owns Warriors, I am only writing crap about it. Kay? Also, in this story I have cats cry. Cats can cry, but they only cry if they have a dry eye, dust in their eyes, etc.. They don't cry when they are sad like we do, though. But here I will make them cry when they are sad, I just want to. And this is called FanFiction, as in not real and made by fans. So if you don't like it, go away! But it's you who is making a big mistake by not reading my awesome story.

Firestar was standing in a field of green. He had been here before, many times with many cats. This time a blue-gray she-cat was walking toward him, her piercing blue eyes sparkling. "Hello, Bluestar," the ginger tom greeted as he bowed his head, "what do you have to tell me this time?"

"You have successfully restored the lost Clan, SkyClan. And for that StarClan thanks you." Said Bluestar, "this time I have nothing to tell you, but I do have something to show you."

Firestar opened his mouth to speak, but his words never came. Bluestar began to fade, and darkness swirled around the ThunderClan leader. Shapes moved in the darkness, cats, lightning lashed above their heads, illuminating a brown-and-cream tabby she-cat. Her amber eyes glimmering with anger.

"Fight to the death!" she called, "we will not fall to these wretched beasts!" The cats around her flicked their tails, eyes as cold as stars. Thunder roared and lightning flashed. The she-cat yowled and sprang forward, running into the darkness. More lightning lit the sky; a dark ginger tom quickly followed the tabby, with the rest of the cats racing behind. After moments of eerie silence, Firestar heard yowling, of pain and battle. He raced forward, trying to see what was happening. He heard more screeching, cats ran back the way they came, bleeding and limping. Soon, only a few cats were left, lightning tore into the darkness of the night.

"Leafstar! We have to turn back!" Yowled the ginger tom, he batted at the air to some unseen enemy.

"No, Sharpclaw," She replied sternly, swiping at the ground, "they are weak tonight, we will not fail!" She pounced on the ground. More cats scurried back the way they came, and one hit the ground with a loud thump.

"Leafstar! They aren't any weaker, they will easily pass us and attack the Clan!" He yowled.

"Over my dead body!" Lightning tore at the sky, the tabby was on the ground. Surrounded by rats, they covered her body, biting her all over. As Leafstar squirmed under the rats, a large one scrambled onto a rock above her.

"Yo tout youse weh doun wit ous, eh?" He said, swinging his head, "youse kiled me leder, sue no me wil kil yo!" He lifted a dirty paw and the rats on Leafstar scrambled off her.

Firestar stepped forward a bit to try and get a better view of the she-cat, she was covered in rat bites and bleeding all over, if he didn't know any better he would have rushed forward to help her and called for Cinderpelt, but this was a dream. Even though the rats had moved off of her, she was still pinned to the ground from her own exhaustion, her chest was pounding. Old and new scars covered her body, telling Firestar this was not the first fight she had in a while. The leader of ThunderClan could do nothing to help the brown-and-cream she-cat.

The ginger tom had bolted toward her, but was stopped by the rats that had crawled off her. He swatted at them and stepped on some, hoping to break their neck or at least some of their bones. For every rat he killed two more came, and soon he too was overcome by their strength.

Her flanks were heaving and her amber eyes stared at the large rat. Firestar continued to stare at the she-cat, _Leafstar…_ he thought, remembering what the dark ginger tom had called her. His thoughts whorled in his head,_ then that must mean that this is SkyClan! The tom I saw before was Sharpclaw!_ While Firestar was pulling his thoughts together, the large rat had leaped on Leafstar's chest, and was viciously biting her. She squirmed underneath his small paws, but was powerless. The rat made an odd chuckling noise, its laugh, the bit her one fatal time.

She screeched, and then began to lie still;_ she is losing a life!_ Firestar thought, _I have to bring her to Echosong! _When he took a step forward, the picture in front of him began to fade. The sounds dimmed and Firestar was shrouded in darkness. He heard a long, agonizing screech of pain. The he saw pale green eyes dance in front of him. Firestar then realized who he saw.

"Sandstorm!"

At the sound of his mate's name he was shrouded in blackness once again. He found himself in the ThunderClan nursery. Sandstorm was lying on her bed of moss; a light brown tabby kit and a dark ginger kit were snuggled close to her belly. Whitekit and Brightheart looked over them, marveling. Cinderpelt was sniffing at the kits, making sure neither of them was sick. Sandstorm's eyes stared warmly at her kits. Firestar blinked, and the vision changed.

Blood covered the nursery, turning Whitekit's snow-colored pelt red. She and her mother were fishing out to kits from the river of blood; both of their green eyes were shrouded with fear. Cinderpelt was leaning over Sandstorm, the source of the river.  
She was screaming loudly, in deep pain unknown to Firestar. He bolted towards his mate, leaping over the crimson stream. Brightheart and Whitekit worked to pull out the kits, and Cloudtail came in and helped, licking the kits and trying to comfort them.

"Sandstorm!" He yowled, "Cinderpelt! What is going on?"

But no one heard him.

The den became covered in darkness. The cats began to swirl away. But Firestar could still hear Sandstorm's screams.

"FIRESTAR! Firestar, wake up!" wailed a familiar voice. The ginger tom felt a paw jab harshly into his side. "Wake up." Firestar slowly opened his green eyes to see a gray tom staring at him. His paw placed near his rib cage.

"Where is Sandstorm?" He asked loudly as he got up from his nest.

"Where she always is," Graystripe responded, "in the nursery. Where else would she be? What happened? You don't look very good."

Firestar quickly bolted out of the den; Graystripe recovered quickly and sprinted towards Firestar. Eyes turned towards the frantic leader, but he ignored them. All that mattered now was to find Sandstorm, and know she is safe.

"Firestar? What is it? Why are you here so early? The dawn patrol just left." Said just the voice Firestar wanted to hear.

"Sandstorm…" He said walking slowly towards the light ginger she-cat and began to groom her. She purred affectionately at him, which made his mood lift more. His eyes skimmed the nursery, Brightheart was still asleep, Whitekit was buried in her chest fur. No sign of blood anywhere, only peace.

Graystripe stepped in slowly, his yellow eyes filled with worry. When he saw Firestar's enlightened mood, the emotion changed to uneasiness. Firestar knew what he was thinking, his mate, Silverstream of RiverClan, had died giving birth to his kits. Her life pouring out with each drop of blood as she gave birth on ThunderClan's sunning rocks. Entering the nursery still made him uneasy, especially when the queens were close to kitting. Seeing kits, happy and healthy with their mother and father put him on the edge of tears, his kits had survived, Feathertail and Stormfur, but they were in RiverClan. He only saw them during Gatherings and sometimes on patrols. His heart broke when he saw kits with their parents, growing up with them and not having a care in the world.

Firestar saw Graystripe's eyes fill with worry. He nodded to his leader before walking out of the nursery. Firestar turned to Sandstorm, "I have to go," he said, "I'll come back with some prey," he gave her a final lick on the head before padding out.

His eyes examined the clearing. Thornclaw was sitting near the entrance, his apprentice, Shrewpaw, beside him. Dustpelt and Ferncloud padded up to them and nodded. Thornclaw nodded back then the three warriors exited the camp, the brambles twitching behind them.

Firestar closed his eyes and opened his mouth, tasting the air. The scents of familiar cats swarmed in his mouth, clinging to the roof of it. He slowly breathed in, waiting for certain scent to reach him. But a different one came to him.

"Firestar," said the voice, Firestar reopened his eyes to Longtail's amber eyes staring at him, and the ThunderClan leader felt a lump rise in his throat. Longtail's eyes were shrouded with a milky covering, reminding Firestar of what happened just a few moons ago. Longtail had been hunting a rabbit when it turned on him and scratched his eyes. The rabbit had dirt clutched in his claws, infecting Longtail's eyes. Cinderpelt tried as hard as she could to cure him, but it was of no use. Longtail became blind shortly after Firestar and Sandstorm left. When they had returned he was being taken care of by the Elders, getting used to not being able to see.

When Firestar had returned, Longtail asked if he could join the Elder's den, saying he was of no use to the Clan any longer. Firestar told him he was still a great member of the Clan, but had allowed him to become an elder. Firestar knew that Longtail still had dreams where he could see, where he could have finished training his apprentice, Rainwhisker, where he could fight and hunt, see cats at Gatherings and kits.

"Yes Longtail?" Firestar choked, he swallowed, trying to remove the lump grazing at his throat.

"Can you tell one of the apprentices to clean the bedding in the Elders' den?" He asked, "Speckletail, Frostfur, and Dappletail don't have the strength in them after One-eye's death."

One-eye had been the oldest cat in ThunderClan, she died only one moon ago, only a few sunrises after Firestar's return. The elders hardly seemed to grunt when they found a thorn in their bedding after one of the apprentices just cleaned it.

Firestar nodded, "Sure, I'll get Spiderpaw." Longtail nodded in return before stepping slowly towards the elders' den. Firestar heart ached for the pale tabby tom. He should be a warrior, training apprentices, and going on hunting and border patrols. Not being vulnerable and afraid, being able to ask an apprentice himself to clean out bedding. Longtail should have been one of his senior warriors, helping him through all decisions. But instead he was asking Firestar to get one of the apprentices to clean out bedding, it was just horrible.

Firestar began walking again; he stopped when he came near the apprentices' den and poked his head through the opening. The den was very empty, only one of the five apprentices were there. The sleeping form of Spiderpaw was spread out across two beds, the joy have having a full den to themselves.

Firestar whispered, "Spiderpaw, wake up."

The black apprentice groaned, "But Mousefur, you said I had the day off today. 'Cause I got that really big rabbit…" Firestar rolled his eyes, stepped forward, and jabbed the apprentice between the ribs with is paw.

"Oww!" He yowled, sitting up. "What was that for?"

"For not getting up," Firestar responded simply, "I need you to go clean out the elders' den." Spiderpaw ignored his leader, and began licking his paw. "Now. Or else you'll be cleaning the Elder's den for three moons, and Shrewpaw will become a warrior before you will."

Spiderpaw sprang up and charged out of the den. Firestar chuckled quietly, apprentices… all they ever want is to become a warrior. Firestar exited the den, then the camp. He walked steadily to the RiverClan border, never stopping.

Soon Firestar could hear the roar of the river, and could smell the familiar scent of the ThunderClan deputy.

The gray tom was seated on top of sunning rocks. The rising sun made his yellow eyes glitter, and Firestar noticed they were watering. He leaped up next to Graystripe and rapped his tail comfortingly around him. They sat in silence for a while, steady tears hitting the rock beneath them.

Graystripe broke the silence. "I-I'm sorry, Firestar," He managed to sputter, "you shouldn't be worried about me. You should be worrying about Sandstorm. I mean she is so close to kitting you must think something might go wrong and…" Graystripe's eyes widened and he turned to face his leader. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have told you that, now you're going to think something is going to happen and Sandstorm might-"

"Quiet, you mouse brain," Firestar laughed, "I was already worried before you said that. StarClan, I don't think I'm any more worried than I was a moment ago. Remember when Willowpelt was close to having her kits? Whitestorm was completely freaking out, he went to the nursery several times a day, once he actually left a patrol to check on her. Just like Whitestorm, and every other tom with a mate and kits, I am worried about my mate."

"I didn't worry about Silverstream," Graystripe admitted, " I thought everything was going to be perfect. She would live, our kits would grow up brave and strong, visiting me by the border, and we would watch as our kits became great, serving their Clan with all the strength they have, and then we would join StarClan, and be with each other forever, watching our kin."

"You still are with Silverstream," Firestar replied, "you love her and she loves you. I can think of no stronger love than that."

"Thank you," Graystripe said, blinking away his remaining tears.

"I had a dream;" Firestar said, "Bluestar came to me, and told me that StarClan thanks me for helping SkyClan. Then I saw the leader of SkyClan being pinned down, and one of her lives ripped away by a rat. I was powerless to help her, and the scene began to fade, and I heard Sandstorm screaming." He said, recalling the nightmare. "Then I saw her at the nursery, she was happy and had two kits, a dark ginger one like me, and a light brown tabby one. Cinderpelt was over her, looking happy, and Brightheart and Whitekit were there too. I blinked, and it changed again. I heard more screaming, and I saw a river of blood in the nursery, and my two perfect kits were in the blood, Brightheart and Whitekit fished them out, licking their fur. Cinderpelt was again over Sandstorm, and the blood poured out of Sandstorm. Then Cloudtail came, and licked the kits, he comforted them and silenced their cries. Sorrelpaw limped in, she went straight to the tabby kit and began whispering to it. Brambleclaw did the same for the other kit, whispering and licking it."

A gasp emerged from Graystripe. "What do you think the dream means?"

Firestar shook his head. "I don't know, but I hope it was just a dream. Sandstorm is perfectly healthy and I could just be worrying. I don't want to talk about this now." Firestar said, facing his deputy, "Let's head back to camp, then, at sunset, you and I will go out hunting. Just you and me, like old times."

Graystripe's tears had dried, and he nodded happily as he and Firestar leaped down from the huge rock and padded back to camp. Talking jubilantly.

Firestar swallowed the last piece of his sparrow. The sun was setting, and Graystripe was patiently waiting for his old friend to go hunting. Firestar sat up and padded towards the ThunderClan deputy, nodded then stepped through the barrier into the woods.

Most of the time the two were silent, sometimes exchanging gossip about mischievous apprentices and romances. Graystripe laughed manically when Firestar got stuck underneath a root, trying to catch a squirrel.

"Now I know you've gotten wider over the moons," Graystripe joked, "but I was never aware of _this_."

"Ha ha, very funny," Firestar said, trying to pull himself out, but failing miserably. "Now help me you useless lump of fur."

He continued laughing as he walked around the root to face Firestar in the eyes. He leaned over his ginger head and pulled at his scruff. "Oww!" Firestar yowled, digging his claws into the earth, "what in the name of StarClan are you doing?"

"Hel-ping youf," Graystripe said, not letting go of Firestar. He closed his eyes and yanked hard, and he and Firestar tumbled onto the ground, laughing.

"Nice one you great lump of fur!" Firestar said, flicking his tail on Graystripe's ears.

"Hey! I was helping!" Graystripe defended, "_I'm _not the one who got stuck on a root."

A sudden movement in the woods made them spring up. Firestar pricked his ears, listening for more. The movements got closer and closer, and Firestar unsheathed his claws. Then he could make out white fur. Cloudtail raced out of the bushes.

"Cloudtail!" Firestar exclaimed, "for once you're lucky you have white fur! I almost attacked you."

Cloudtail ignored the comment, his blue eyes were frantic. "Firestar!" He panted, "Cinderpelt… she needs you."

"Why?" Graystripe asked, he didn't want anything interrupting their hunting.

Cloudtail didn't even look at the gray tom; he turned directly to Firestar, "Sandstorm is having her kits." He said, tensing his muscles to run. "And she is _dying_, Firestar."

Firestar ran like the wind towards the camp. His mind was a blur, _was the vision true?_ He thought. _Will there be blood in the nursery? Will our kits look like that? Will Sandstorm die?_

Soon, Firestar was in camp. And all eyes turned on him, cats whispered to each other, yet never taking their eyes off him. Sorrelpaw was outside the medicine cat den, and she began to limp to the nursery. Brambleclaw was outside the nursery, his amber eyes watering. Firestar pelted into the nursery.

Whitekit was crying in the corner of the nursery, Brightheart was trying to comfort her, but tears dotted the ginger-and-white she-cat's face. Cloudtail ran in, and wrapped his fluffy tail around his mate and kit, letting his own tears run free. Graystripe also stormed in, and stood next to Firestar, panting.

Firestar turned to his mate's nest; she was there, lying on her side. Two kits were snuggled by her belly. Whimpering softly. Sandstorm was unmoving. Cinderpelt was seated above her, her blue eyes watering.

"What's wrong?" Firestar asked, his voice sounded wet, and he felt tears escape his eyes.

Cinderpelt looked up to face him. "The birth was fine, but after the second kit was born she went unconscious. I haven't been able to make her wake up, and your kits need milk."

As if reacting to what Cinderpelt said, Sandstorm opened her eyes, and gasped. "Fire-Firestar? I n-need Fires-star." She said weakly.

Firestar stepped closer, so Sandstorm could see him. "I'm here, Sandstorm," he said, feeling more tears slide off his nose.

"Our kits, how do they look? She-cats or toms?" She asked, gasping for more air. Firestar turned to his kits.

"There is a light brown tabby she-cat," he said, "She has a white underbelly and four white paws. The other is a dark ginger she-cat, like me. One of her front paws is white and she has a bushy tail." Firestar turned to his mate. "I don't understand, why am I telling you how they look, when you can look at them yourself when you feel better?"

"Because we need to pick out names for them," she replied sweetly, "the tabby will be Leafkit, after Leafstar and Spottedleaf, two great cats. The other will be Squirrelkit, because of her tail." Sandstorm turned her gaze in front of her. "I need to go now, Firestar, Spottedleaf told me so. I am needed in StarClan."

"What?" Firestar asked, "You're needed here, with me, with Squirrelkit and Leafkit. I need you!"

"No, Firestar, they will find me. And so will you," she said, turning her gaze on him. "it is supposed to be this way."

"No, no!" Firestar yowled, "You're supposed to be with me! Forever! Don't leave me!"

Sandstorm closed her pale green eyes, "You'll understand, Firestar, tell the kits I love them. I love you too, Firestar. Spottedleaf needs me now, good bye Firestar, but I will see you soon, don't forget that, love."

Sandstorm took one last, deep breath, and then stopped breathing entirely. Firestar stared in horror, Sandstorm was gone. He pushed at her stomach, but she didn't react. He pushed harder. "Sandstorm! Sandstorm! Come back!"

A gray paw was placed on his, and he heard Graystripe talking to him. "Firestar, stop, she's gone now. Let her go in peace, knowing that you love her."

Firestar put his paw done, "She's gone… Sandstorm is gone." He looked down at his kits, "what about the kits?"

"I'll take care of them," Brightheart said, Cinderpelt nodded and picked up both the kits; Squirrelkit first, Leafkit next. She walked over to Brightheart, you settled onto her nest, and placed the kits by her stomach. The kits moved forward and whined, refusing to take Brightheart's milk.

Firestar walked slowly towards Brightheart. "Why aren't they eating?" He asked.

"They know their mother's scent, and they know that Brightheart is not their mother. They will eat eventually; Brightheart's warmth will draw them towards her." She said, turning towards Brightheart, "I'm going to get some borage," she padded out of the nursery, her steps heavy.

Two more cats padded in, Sorrelpaw and Brambleclaw. Sorrelpaw was leaning on Brambleclaw for support; both of their amber eyes were full of tears. Brambleclaw moved Sorrelpaw towards Brightheart and the others; they both saw Sandstorm's cold body.

Sorrelpaw settled down next to Graystripe, she stared down at the kits. "What are their names?" She asked.

"The tabby is Leafkit and the ginger one is Squirrelkit," Cloudtail replied, choking in tears.

"They are beautiful, Firestar." Brambleclaw said. He had been Firestar's latest apprentice, and a strong bond was formed between the two. "You must be proud."

Firestar nodded numbly, "Sorrelpaw, when your leg has healed, you will train under Graystripe." He said, the tortoiseshell apprentice nodded, but she didn't take her eyes of Leafkit. Brambleclaw did the same for Squirrelkit.

Cloudtail sat up, "I'm going to get Ashfur," he said, "we'll take out Sandstorm's body for her vigil." Firestar nodded again, and the white tom bowed his head and exited the den. He returned shortly afterward, with Ashfur at his heels. The gray tom looked over towards the group of cats and whispered something into Cloudtail's ear. He whispered something back, and the two toms lifted Sandstorm and dragged her lifeless body out of the den.

"I'm going to sit vigil," Firestar said, he gave one glance to his kits, then exited the nursery.

Graystripe followed, "Firestar…" he began.

"Graystripe," Firestar replied, "I need to be alone for a bit. Thanks for being there; I would still be pounding on her now if you hadn't stopped me."

"You did the same thing for me with Silverstream," he said, "now let's go sit vigil for Sandstorm."

Her body was laid on in the center of camp. Half the Clan was already assembled by her. Cats were crying for their lost Clan mate, whispering and moaning. When Firestar stepped out, everything became quiet. He walked towards his mate, and lay down and pressed his nose on her.

Many thoughts swirled inside his brain. _Spottedleaf came to you? She told you you were going to die? Why? How will you still be with me? You're dead. How will Leafkit and Squirrelkit find you? Why did you have to leave me?_

_Don't you love me?_

IC: Oh my God people, I actually started crying. Seriously! I'm not the crying type and I knew this was going to happen but I still did! Just go away and let me cry in peace. But review before you leave! This story is about Leafpaw, Squirrelpaw, Firestar and Sandstorm. Just to tell you, I hope to update in a month or so… so be patient. Iceclaw signing off!


	2. Heartbroken

Iceclaw: Hey guys! I'm back already! I just really love my story and when I realized I had so many hits I just had to start writing. This chapter is short so I filled it with a bunch of fluff, but some of you _might _enjoy my fluff, I know I do. Bear with me here! This part was supposed to be in the first chapter, but I forgot about it after I posted it, and I am too lazy to go back and edit it, yeah yeah, you must hate me. Disclaimer: Erin Hunter owns Warriors, I only own the story _My Guardian_ and that is it. Enjoy!

Firestar was standing in the nursery, a lump of light ginger fur was lying on Sandstorm's old nest. Firestar crouched and was about to growl, when the lump faced him and he saw the cat had pale green eyes.

Sandstorm was alive!

"Sandstorm!" He yowled rushing forward, when he moved, the scene did not change. So it must be real! Sandstorm dying was just a dream! She was alive, with him. He lowered his neck and closed his eyes, praying he would be able to feel her. He moved his head under where her head was, and felt her! He rubbed his head against the bottom of her jaw again and again, and she didn't dissapear.

Firestar lifted his head and opened his eyes, "Sandstorm," he said, staring into her. "Your alive, you won't leave me," he said, his green eyes glittering with happiness.

Sandstorm didn't reply, instead she turned away from Firestar, "Look," she said.

Firestar stepped forward and peered over his mate. There, by her belly, were Leafkit and Squirrelkit. They were around three moons old, curled up against each other and their mother for warmth. Firestar turned back to his mate, "they are beautiful, Sandstorm, like you."

She laughed lighlty, "I enjoyed the compliment, but now is not the time for making up for lost time." Firestar opened his mouth to respond, but a sudden noise from the entrance of the den discrated him. Emerging from the den was Brambleclaw, and a slightly older and limpless Sorrelpaw. The two cats stepped in, and Leafkit and Squirrelpaw bolted towards them. And both of them suddenly became the size of kits about to become apprentices.

"Brambleclaw," said Squirrelkit, pouncing on the tom, "can you please, please take me hunting with you! Please! I'll catch you a mouse." She begged. She had the cutest voice.

"I don't want to go hunting," Leafkit mumbled; her voice calm and soothing to Firestar's ears.

Sorrelpaw bent down to touch noses with her, "And why is that, Leafkit?" She asked her. Firestar walked closer towards his kits, Sandstorm rose too and followed. Firestar had to get a good look at his kits.

"Because I don't want to hunt," she said, her amber eyes sparkling. "I don't want to be a warrior. I want to be a medicine cat, I want to be with Cinderpelt, to collect herbs and heal cats."

Silence followed for the next few moments, and Firestar felt pride welling up inside of him._ Both of my kits are going to be strong, _he thought, _they are both going to serve ThunderClan well. Leafkit will be a great medicine cat, and Squirrelkit will fight and hunt almost as good as Sandstorm. Maybe better._ He turned to Sandstorm, who studied the four cats knowingly.

"You hate me, don't you?" Said Leafkit, a tear trickled down her face and she hung her head in shame.

Brambleclaw used his paw to raise her head, "Don't be silly," he said comfortably, using his large paw to wipe away her tears.

"We are proud of you," Sorrelpaw replied simply, "do whatever you want. Be whoever you want to be, we don't care, as long as you love what you're doing we will support you."

Squirrelkit pounced by her sister, "I would like you to be in the apprentice den with me," She said, lifting her rump into the air, "but I know we can't do everything together, right?" Squirrelkit had green eyes like Firestar, and they glowed with love for her sister.

Leafkit's face filled with happiness, she pounced on her sister, and the two play-fought, laughing. Firestar was overcome with joy, his kits were beautiful and strong. He turned to Sandstorm, her eyes were wet and a tear slid down her face and hit the floor of the nursery. "Sandstorm?" Firestar said, "what's wrong?"

The light ginger she-cat turned towards her mate. "Why do you think Sorrelpaw and Brambleclaw are here? They are here because our kits are lonely, Firestar, our kits have no parents."

Darkness.

Firestar woke, panting. He swung his head in confusion. Where was he? Why was he here? It was dark, the moon above him was a small sliver, providing little light. Soon, his eyes adjusted to the lack of light, and he was able to make out the lying form of Sorrelpaw a half a fox length in front of him. Her eyes were closed, and her nose was buried into light ginger tabby fur.

His heart began to beat faster. He looked below. And there she was.

Sandstorm.

Cold, unmoving.

Dead.

Everything swirled back into place. Sandstorm had died, having his kits, Leafkit and Squirrelkit. It was all a dream, just a dream. He was here at her vigil, and he had fallen asleep. He pressed his nose dapper into her fur, touching her frigid skin. A single tear squirmed out of his eye. _I'm sorry,_ he thought, _I couldn't even stay awake for you... How can I be a good leader if I can't even stay awake for my mate's vigil?_

Sandstorm's sweet and tender voice flooded into his mind. "_Don't worry_," her voice said. "_You were supposed to sleep. I had to send you the dream immediately. You are a great leader Firestar, our kits are going to be great, too. Don't forget that, they can take care of themselves, they can handle the truth_." A sudden warmth came to Firestar's side. He turned, praying a silent prayer to StarClan that Sandstorm would be the one next to him.

It was Graystripe. "Hey, sorry I wasn't here before," he apologized. "I had to try and get the camp calmed down, all of them are surprised by Sandstorm's sudden death."

Firestar nodded, "Thanks," he whispered to his deputy and best friend.

The gray tom shook his head, "Yeah, but you did the same thing for me with Silverstream. Tigerstar wanted to kick me out, but you stood up for me and comforted me through it." He whispered back, his yellow eyes even paler with than moon's light. "I'm doing this in repayment, and as your deputy and Clan mate."

"And as my friend." Firestar said quietly, "thank you Graystripe."

The two toms sat in silence for a few moments, Firestar sheathed and unsheathed his claws nervously. He had to tell someone about the other dream, Graystripe already knew about the first, why can't he know about the second?

"Graystripe-" He began, but he was cut off.

"You had another dream," he said simply, reading Firestar's mind.

"Yeah,"

"Tell me, then."

So he began telling his deputy about the dream, and Graystripe, in return, stayed silent, absorbing Firestar's words. When he had finished, Graystripe closed his eyes, and once again they were quiet. "What do you think it means?" Graystripe asked, keeping his eyes closed.

"I don't know," Firestar said in return, "But afterwards I heard Sandstorm's voice, she told me she sent me the dream, and that I was a great leader and our kits were great too. She told me that they could take care of themselves, that they could handle the truth."

Graystripe's eyes shot open. "What are you going to tell them about their mother?"

"That her name was Sandstorm," he began. "That she loved me and I loved her back. And that she died while giving birth to them." He said, "why?"

"I don't know," Graystripe confessed, "but maybe the truth part could have something to do with it, but again, I am not a medicine cat. I cannot interpret dreams, why don't you tell Cinderpelt about it?"

Firestar nodded, and the toms were once again quiet. Firestar's thoughts whorled in his mind, and he didn't fall asleep.

He rose when Graystripe, Dustpelt, Brambleclaw, Mousefur and Spiderpaw left to go on the dawn patrol. He quickly gobbled down two scrawny, muddy, rain-drenched, and not-so-fresh mice. But his taste buds didn't seem to be working. He would visit Brightheart and his kits for a bit and give her some fresh kill, then he would see Cinderpelt and see what she had to say.

He grabbed a large rabbit from the top of the pile and padded towards the nursery. Graystripe was right. All of ThunderClan was walking heavily with their tails down, some had tear stains on their faces, others had fresh, new tears pouring out of their eyes. The nursery was warmer than outside. And the scent of milk made tears threatened to escape his eyes, but he held them back.

Brightheart was lying on her bed of moss, her kit, Whitekit, was struggling to pull out a small balll of moss from the barrier, but she was failing miserably. Her claws were not sharp enough to dig through the bracken and ferns. Cinderpelt had already been here, the evidence was the small pile of borage Brightheart was picking at. Leafkit and Squirrelkit were sound asleep by her belly, twitching thier paws and tails.

"Hey Brightheart," Firestar greeted, he dropped the rabbit in front of her and bowed his head. "How are you?"

"Fine," She responded warmly. "After eating borage for so long it doesn't seem that bitter anymore. Actually, it doesn't even have a taste anymore, weird, isn't it?"

Firestar nodded. "How are the kits?" He asked, getting right to the point.

"They are so sweet," She said, her voice was warm like basking on the Sunning Rocks on a beautiful Greenleaf day. "They have hardly spoken, unlike Whitekit. Cinderpelt was just here, as you might have noticed, she said they were strong and healthy."

Firestar pushed his rabbit closer to her. "Here," he said. "I brought this for you. When Cinderpelt was here, did she say anything about why Sandstorm might have died?"

Brightheart shook her head, showing her horrible scar where her eye should have been. "No, I'm sorry. She didn't say anything, she only gave me borage, checked the kits and asked me how they were overnight. They were fine, if you're wondering."

"Alright," Firestar responded. "Tell me if anything happens." He turned around and began walking out of the den.

"Thanks for the rabbit."

Firestar walked through the clearing, several cats stopped what they were doing and stared, others began to whisper amongst themselves. He ignored them, they didn't matter now, and all that did was getting to Cinderpelt and tell her about the dreams. He stopped at the fresh kill pile, and grabbed a plump sparrow for his former apprentice. In front of Cinderpelt's den was the sleeping form of Sorrelpaw, her tortoiseshell fur recognizable from far away. She didn't stir when Firestar stepped through the lichen in front of the medicine cat's den.

Cinderpelt was awake, sorting through herbs, putting dead leaves in one pile to discard later. Her enormous blue eyes revealed how tired she was, and her limp seemed worse. Firestar sat down, dropped the kill, and began to wash his fur. What would he ask her? Would he begin with the dreams or how Sandstorm died? He licked his paw and rubbed it against his face. Sandstorm's death should come first.

As if on cue to Firestar's decision, Cinderpelt placed a over-dried borage leaf into the pile, picked it back up again with the rest of the pile's contents, and spun around. When she saw Firestar, the leaves went back down again.

"Firestar," She said. "How are you? What is it?" Cinderpelt's eyes traveled to the sparrow, and her stomach growled loudly.

Firestar laughed. He felt like he hadn't laughed for a moon, it felt good to him. "It's for you," he said, pushing the sparrow to her. She devoured it hungrily, like an apprentice eating its first kill. When she finished, she licked her lips, satisfied.

"Thanks," she said happily, and then her mood flipped dramatically. "I'm sorry I wasn't able to stay for the vigil. But I had to check on Leafkit and Squirrelkit, they are healthy, and then some cats asked what happened... then I ran out of borage." She apologized. "I just had so much to do..."

"It's alright," he said sympathetically. "You tried to save her, and you had to make sure my kits would survive. She didn't' want them to die. I say you did better than you would have by just sitting around her like I did."

Cinderpelt shook her head. "No Firestar, you might be right about me, but I can't think of anything else you could do that would be better for Sandstorm. Vigils are used for honoring them when they lived and remembering everything they did, whether it is good, or bad. If Sandstorm wanted anyone to remember everything she did from the moment that cat met her, she would definitely choose you. Some cats say there final farewells at vigils, sometimes the passing cat can speak to the other, but only to whom they were closest. A vigil is a sad place, but remembrance of everything, and remembering that one day, you will be with them in the stars, living forever with each other, and protecting those close to you still on this earth."

_StarClan,_ Firestar thought,_ why must medicine cats understand everything? I feel like a kit, praying to be leader one day, and then hurt by my mentor, giving me the realities of life as sweetly as she can. Especially since she is my former apprentice._

When Tigerstar was the deputy of ThunderClan, he planned to kill Bluestar by having her get hit by a monster. Tigerstar told Firestar to tell Bluestar ShadowClan cats were at the ThunderClan border, and she had to come immediately. He set up the trap, and despite what Firestar said, his apprentice went to him. And she was hit by the monster. Her left hind leg was injured, and didn't heal properly. It was lucky she survived; she was lucky ThunderClan didn't blame Yellowfang for killing Spottedleaf and kill her. Even if Spottedleaf hadn't died, she probably wouldn't have been skilled enough to heal her. Since Cinderpelt couldn't be a warrior, she began helping Yellowfang with medicine cat duties, and soon Yellowfang asked her to become a medicine cat apprentice, she accepted. Cinderpelt wasn't supposed to be a medicine cat; she was supposed to be a warrior. She didn't see signs as clearly as other medicine cats, but she was still a good medicine cat, good mentors always lead to more good things.

"How did Sandstorm die?" Firestar asked.

Cinderpelt sighed. "Shortly after you went hunting with Graystripe, Whitekit came to me; she told me Sandstorm was giving birth." She began. "I rushed towards the nursery, and she was breathing heavily, like any queen would. I did the same thing to her as I do to all the queens, and she did the same thing. Leafkit was born; she was completely fine, nothing was wrong with her. Then Sandstorm got tired, but then again lots of queens might be after having a kit. I told her just to have the last kit, and then she could rest. Yellowfang told me that it is not uncommon for some queens to fall asleep after having thier kits. The second kit was much harder on her; she was saying your name over and over again. 'Firestar, where is he? I need him! Firestar!'

"She was breathing very hard, I was scared. Even Silverstream wasn't like this. I didn't know what was happening, what had gone wrong; there was no blood, nothing. Brightheart got scared; she summoned Cloudtail and told him to find you. Shortly after Cloudtail left, Sandstorm had Squirrelkit. She was completely fine. Sandstorm went unconscious; she wouldn't wake up no matter what I did. Then you came, and once you spoke she woke up." Cinderpelt said, recalling the traumatic moments. "It was like she was waiting for you to come. I don't know what she meant with Spottedleaf and StarClan. StarClan hasn't shown me anything. No visions, no prophecies, no dreams, _nothing_, Firestar. It's like StarClan doesn't even know she is dead."

Tears threatened to escape Cinderpelt's large blue eyes, but she was strong enough to hold them back. Firestar was not. Hot tears slid down his face, dropping onto the floor of the den. _I can't do this!_ He thought. He closed his eyes, hoping it would stop the tears, but they slid underneath his eyelids. _How am I supposed to be leader when every time I think about Sandstorm I break into tears? I can't help my Clan, I can't do this anymore! I'm weak, just a kittypet._ **(A/N: I'm crying? Why am I crying? This part is even that sad. Why am I crying? I wrote this story, I know everything, I don't cry! Why am I crying? What's wrong with me?)**

Sandstorm once again spoke to him. "_Firestar, what are you talking about? You're the bravest cat I've ever known_." She encouraged. "_When Tigerclaw wanted to kill Ravenpaw you didn't run in fear that he would come after you next. You charged into ShadowClan camp for revenge and four kits. You didn't run away from the dogs, you fought BloodClan and defeated Scoorge. You saved SkyClan, I couldn't ask for a better mate. Ever._"

Firestar faced Cinderpelt directly. He needed to see Sandstorm. "We're going to the Moonstone. Tomorrow. We will leave at sunset. Prepare traveling herbs for us." Cinderpelt nodded and returned to her herbs. Firestar padded out of the den, content to see his mate alive for one, final time.

But now he had to see her dead for one final time.

Outside Cinderpelt's den, Firestar could see cats lining outside their dens. The elders were walking slowly towards Sandstorm's body, Longtail being guided by Frostfur's tail on his shoulder. Some ThunderClan cats had their heads bowed in respect, some were crying, and others had run out of tears. Brightheart sat tall, hiding her sorrow from Whitekit, Cloudtail wrapping his fluffy tail around both of them and licking their ears. Ferncloud and Dustpelt were outside of the warriors den, Dustpelt whispering into her ear, trying to calm her down. Sorrelpaw had risen from her nest and was sitting loyally outside the den. She missed her mentor. She was going to start training again in two moons, and was looking forward to training with Dustpelt then coming to Sandstorm and telling her how she was fairing with a different mentor, but that she liked training under Sandstorm better. Sandstorm would have laughed, and told her she would have liked to be training her, but her kits needed her. Then Leafkit and Squirrelkit would climb over her and say they didn't need her, and she would laugh again. Whitekit would topple on Leafkit and Squirrelkit, and then Brightheart would scold her for not being cautious, that she was too big and might hurt them.

Then Firestar would come, and his kits would climb over him and bat him with their tiny, pink paws. Then he would shake them gently off, and touch Sandstorm's nose and whisper gently in her ear...

"I love you," he said aloud. Sorrelpaw pricked her ears, but quickly averted her attention back to the elders. Sorrelpaw's amber eyes lost their certain gaze, and she seemed to be staring at nothing, like Sandstorm's when she... he turned away. And he spotted Brambleclaw. His eyes were unfocused as well, no light reflected in them, and they were glazed over.

Like a dead cat's.

He closed his eyes, and then opened them again. Brambleclaw's eyes were back to normal, but he stared at Firestar curiously. Out of the corner of his eye he could also see that Sorrelpaw's eyes returned to normal. He shook his head, just a trick of light. He turned his attention to the elders.

Frostfur bent down and picked her up by the scruff of her neck. She struggled, and then Longtail stepped forward and easily lifted Sandstorm from the ground. Firestar could see his muscles ripple, a shame he was stuck burring the den and lounging about when he could be fighting. Longtail might be a good deputy, maybe even leader. The other elders grabbed her legs, and they walked out of the camp, their burden weighing them down.

That was the last time Firestar saw Sandstorm's body. Being pulled away by heart-broken elders. Her green eyes were open, unreflecting, dead. Firestar saw them, and remembered when they shone with love and glittered. A hot tear slowly traveled down his face, he wiped it away with his paw, but it was quickly replaced with another one. _Stop crying, _he told himself, _you will see Sandstorm again. When you go to the Moonstone you will see her. Then you will join StarClan, and be with her forever._

_ "Oh Firestar..."_

Light peered through the lichen outside the leader's den, but Firestar was already awake. He was antsy, Sandstorm had to tell him what the dreams meant and everything. But mostly Firestar just wanted to see her. He knew he could not leave every moon or so to visit her, but he just had to see her this one last time. Before, he hadn't been able to say good-bye, this time, he will. He stepped through the lichen.

Graystripe was outside, calling out a list of names for the patrols for the day. Firestar walked quickly over to the gray tom. "'Morning, Graystripe," he greeted.

Graystripe nodded in return. "So I heard you are going to the Moonstone today, am I right?" he asked, "The Clan gossip is not always correct."

Firestar hadn't told Graystripe he was going to the Moonstone! "I'm sorry," he apologized, bowing his head. "I was just so overwhelmed..." The ThunderClan deputy cut him off.

"It's okay," he assured, "no one would be feeling so good in your position, and I'm just being a friend. Cinderpelt is waiting for you at her den." Firestar nodded his thanks, and padded towards Cinderpelts den.

When he saw the full fresh-kill pile, Firestar's mouth watered. His stomach growled, but he couldn't eat, unless he wanted to wait another day to see Sandstorm. He quickly grabbed a water vole and walked as fast as he could to the nursery, his mouth watered and his jaw almost closed on the kill. He gave Brightheart the vole and had a brief conversation with her about the kits. Brightheart reassured him the kits were fine and would stay fine when he and Cinderpelt returned. They were still small, and wouldn't open their eyes for several sunrises, so he still worried. He licked them both on the top of the head. "I love you," he whispered.

Cinderpelt's den was cool, and the scent of herbs strong. She was folding herbs into two small packets, wrapping them tightly so they wouldn't fall out. She scented Firestar, and turned to face him. "Here," she said, dropping a packet of herbs onto the floor a small distance away from him. "Eat up."

Firestar nodded, and quickly gorged down the bitter herbs. Cinderpelt slowly gnawed on hers. "Are you sure you don't want to take any apprentices with you?" She inquired, "They need to travel to the Moonstone before they become warriors you know. And maybe you might not have to go for a while."

He shook his head. "I'm sure," he quickly responded. "This seems different then just going to fine help for shortage of prey, Greencough or lack of herbs like usual." He flicked his tail. "This is about StarClan, when I went to get my nine lives I didn't bring anyone with me but you. This is different, this is something StarClan showed me, and they will help me when I go to the Moonstone."

Cinderpelt nodded, then sighed grimly. "Firestar, you might not even see Sandstorm."

"But she spoke to me! She sent me dreams!" He said spicily.

"Yes," she responded, staring straight into his eyes. "But when Yellowfang died she spoke to me." She said coldly, her eyes blazing like a roaring fire of blue. "I saw her, she told me where herbs were and she helped me with things I couldn't handle because I was so heartbroken when she died. Then when I went to the Moonstone, she wasn't there. Spottedleaf was there, just telling me that the forest would heal and rise from the ashes. Yellowfang spoke to me, guided me, and sent me dreams, but she wasn't at the Moonstone waiting for me."

Silence passed between the two cats. Cinderpelt turned back to her herbs and gnawed them slowly. A bitter taste was in Firestar's mouth, but not from the herbs. Cinderpelt's words had turned his stomach upside-down and scarred his tongue. He couldn't respond to her. What was he thinking? He was being selfish. Cinderpelt had lost as much as he had, maybe more. She couldn't be a warrior, she lost her mentor, her first queen she birthed died no matter what she did... how could he be so heartless?

The medicine cat turned around, and he opened his mouth to apologize, but she cut him off. "No, I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking, I am just frustrated. You're so confident that you will see Sandstorm, maybe you will. But you must know that she might not be there." She turned back around and gulped down the rest of her herbs. "I just don't want you to be heartbroken."

Firestar padded up to her and wrapped his tail around her, licking her ears soothingly. "Don't worry about me," he said. "Now, let's go to the Moonstone." Cinderpelt nodded, and the two cats rose from the floor and exited the den. The fresh kill pile still made him hungry, but Cinderpelt trudged on without a single glance at it. Firestar followed her lead.

Outside the camp, they walked faster. Well, technically Firestar picked up the pace, Cinderpelt continued walking, her tail rubbing against the ground. He had to repeatedly stop, waiting for the medicine cat to catch up.

"Come on, Cinderpelt," he said for the millionth time, waiting at a huge oak tree. "I want to get to the Moonstone now. I know you can go faster than that."

Cinderpelt sighed. "Firestar... fine. But we'll speed up at WindClan."

Firestar felt joy soar into him, and the two cats set off into the forest with a faster pace. He would have liked to go faster, but Cinderpelt wasn't going to. And he needed her to pass through WindClan safely.

"Stop right there!" called a voice. Firestar and Cinderpelt obliged. Even after all these moons cats were still antsy about rogues. Firestar wished that WindClan's territory had some trees so they hopefully wouldn't be seen and wouldn't have to explain themselves.

A dark ginger tom with white paws appeared. He was young, hardly a warrior, possibly an apprentice. He growled and settled onto his forelegs, wagging his butt in the air. "Why are you here in WindClan territory?" He asked, barring his teeth.

Firestar sighed. He had been the one that called them, why had he listened? "Where is your mentor?" he offered, "I need to explain myself."

A voice called, "Right here." Firestar averted his eyes toward the noise to find a familar beautiful dark tortoishell she-cat. She nudged the apprentice hard, and he sat up, his amber eyes boring into Firestar.

Firestar bowed his head. "Greetings, Morningflower." He motioned towards the apprentice. "Is he yours?"

She nodded. "Yes, I am sorry for any trouble Weaselpaw might have caused you." Her amber eyes narrowed at the apprentice. "Now, I reckon you should apologize to these nice cats for your hostility."

"I'm sorry for my hostility," he said, embarrassed. A laugh emerged for the horizon, followed by a black-and-white tom and a gray tabby tom. The black-and-white tom padded next to Weaselpaw, bowing his head in respect to the ThunderClan cats.

"Hello Firestar," he said, "Hello Cinderpelt." Out of the corner of Firestar's eye he could see Weaselpaw's eyes widen. He hadn't known the cat he threatened was the leader of ThunderClan.

Firestar bowed his head as well. "I hope you are well, Tallstar." Cinderpelt bowed hers.

"I am sorry about this apprentice," Tallstar said, his amber eyes glittering. "All of WindClan is on guard. One of our warriors, Runningbrook, was just killed by a rogue only some sunrises ago. In fact Runningbrook was his mother, and Ashfoot the mother of her." The apprentice's ears flattened against his head in sorrow.

"I am sorry," Cinderpelt said. "We of ThunderClan have just had a death as well, a queen by the name of Sandstorm just passed two sunrises ago when she bore her kits." Firestar was glad Cinderpelt said it, or he would be in tears in front of the WindClan cats.

Tallstar's eyes widened, he turned to Firestar. "Isn't Sandstorm your mate?"

"Yes."

"Oh I am so sorry." Tallstar said, "how are the kits?"

"They're fine," he replied simply.

The other tom, Tornear, spoke up. "Why are you in WindClan territory?" He questioned.

"We were on our way to the Moonstone." Cinderpelt responded.

"Well then you must be on your way," Tallstar said. "I hope your hunting is good. I will see you both at the next gathering." His long tail flicked, and his warriors padded away. He nodded, then followed them.

Firestar and Cinderpelt passed faster through the moor. Praying not to be stopped again. He wanted to see Sandstorm as soon as possible. Luckily, nothing stood in their way. Even the Thunderpath was empty. Orange cones lined it and there wasn't a monster to be seen for fox-lengths. There were only two twolegs. They were wearing yellow vests and kept pressing a blue stick to a small package they both carried. They pointed to landscapes but paid no attention to two cats who quickly bolted past them into the Highstones.

It was dark, as usual. Firestar stayed completely quiet and followed Cinderpelt through the tunnels. Firestar's mind whorled. Would he see Sandstorm? Would she explain everything? So many questions packed into one small visit to StarClan.

Soon, they reached a small circular room. They both sat patiently and waited for the moon.

Suddenly, the Moonstone appeared. It's dazzling light blinded Firestar. When his eyes adjusted to the light, he turned to Cinderpelt, who's pelt turned silver in the light. She nodded, and they stepped to the Moonstone. Firestar laid down at the moonstone. He took a deep breath, his mind was swirling. Then he placed his nose on the cold surface of the stone, and fell asleep.

Firestar was in the same field as he was in before when Bluestar had shown him the vision. His hear pounded and his eyes quickly scanned the field for Sandstorm. He prayed she was here.

"Greetings, Firestar." Said a voice. Firestar turned towards it, praying for Sandstorm. Instead Bluestar was seated only a fox-tail in front of him. "I wasn't expecting you, but then again, you are not good at interoperating dreams."

"Where is Sandstorm?" He asked bluntly. Bluestar's peircing blue eyes widened with shock. "Where is she?" He said loudly. "I need to see Sandstorn!"

"What are you talking about?" She asked.

"Where is Sandstorm?" He repeated. "She's dead! She's in StarClan, she died having our kits! Where is she? I must see her!" He yowled.

Bluestar's eyes widened. "Firestar, she's not here, Sandstorm's not in StarClan."

IC: OH MY GOD THAT IS SAD! I'm crying! I'm crying! Why am I crying! Seriously people, if you do not feel so sad because of that. You have to read it aloud, it is even sadder! If you felt touched by that and you are possibly going to run to your pillow and cry or you just feel sad, please review. I won't update for a bit, I am going to get the first chapter of a different story up then I'll get the next chapter for this up. Oh yeah, last chapter I said Dustpelt would be Sorrelpaw's mentor... well I have to change that because Dustpelt is Squirrelkit's mentor so now it will be Graystripe instead. I am going to go find a pillow and cry, so I'll see you in a bit! Bye!


	3. Never Again

IC: Yo! I'm back! So here we are! Chapter three, I feel like I should throw a party. That rhymes, tee hee! Not really...Alright, so this chapter has a huge time gap in it from the previous chappie. Now our beloved Leafkit and Squirrelkit are six moons old and are going to become apprentices the next day. I was thinking about doing the part when Firestar came back but I would have way to much fluff in it then. Way to much. ! This chapter is in Squirrelkit's point of veiw (Disclaimer: Erin Hunter owns Warriors, while, sadly, I do not. For if I did, things would be a lot different...

"I'm gonna get cha!" Squirrelkit squealed as she toppled on her sister. Leafkit yowled in astonishment, she quickly recovered and flipped onto her back and kicked Squirrelkit in the gut. The dark ginger she-cat sprang back, her green eyes filled with shock. "How did you do that?" She panted.

Leafkit laughed. "Your position was horrible, it looked like you attacked the ground instead of me." She laughed harder. Squirrelkit growled and set her forelegs onto the ground, then she pounced with full force at her sister, yowling a battle cry. Leafkit easily dogded the attack, and Squirrelkit landed hard on her snout. She growled foriously while rubbing her nose with her paw.

"Wow, you're a great fighter." She said, turning to face the brown tabby she-cat. "You would be a great warrior."

The words had slipped out of Squirrelkit's mouth before she could think. And she instantly regretted them. Leafkit turned around, not wanting to meet Squirrelkit's eyes. Squirrelkit bounded forward and stopped one leap behind her. She swallowed hard, "I'm sorry, Leafkit," she said, scuffling her paw on the nursery floor."I didn't mean to hurt your feelings, I do wish sometimes that you were going to become a warrior. Then we could be in the same den and tell stories about patrols and nasty mentors." She heard Leafkit choke on a laugh, and she got more confident. "But you want to be a medicine cat, and I understand that. You can do whatever you want to, except turn evil like Tigerstar." Leafkit choked harder. "And seriously, I don't know anyone who's sister is the medicine cat of their Clan. Think about how much fame that'll give me... I think Firestar should just skip all this apprentice mouse-dung and make me deputy already."

Leafkit choked harder, and a loud laugh escaped her. She continued laughing for sevaral minutes. "I..." She choked. "Can't...breathe!" She laughed harder, and Squirrelkit joined in too.

Way too soon, they surge of laughter upon the two sisters ended. They met eachother's eyes, and suddenly Squirrelkit was knocked down by a paw and pulled away from her sister. She screamed in terror, and Leafkit laughed manically. Squirrelkit looked behind her to see Brightheart pulling her close. Squirrelkit realized what evil plan she had in store for her, and she screamed louder. Brightheart laughed, and began to wash Squirrelkit.

Leafkit continued to laugh while Squirrelkit struggled to escape the queen's grasp. "Why must you do this to me?" She complained, digging her small claws into Brightheart's foreleg. She helt her skin get hot. "The apprentice ceremony is _tomorrow_, why do I have to be clean now?" Her sister laughed louder. Squirrelkit turned to face her, and found Ferncloud licking her ears. Squirrelkit laughed at her sister, and Leafkit's amber eyes filled with embarrasment.

Soon, the two queens were finished washing them. Squirrelflight reached for a wad of moss to play toss with Leafkit, but Brightheart snatched it from her. "Hey!" She said, facing the ginger-and-white she-cat foriously. "Why'd you do that?"

"Because you can't play in here," she responded simply, she motioned to Ferncloud, who was licking her pregnant belly. "Ferncloud is going to have her kits in a a bit over a moon and she needs as much sleep as possible. You two cause so much ruckus for her to be able to breathe. Go outside and get us some prey then you can come back and have your moss."

Squirrelkit and Leafkit bolted out of the nursery. They loved the rest of the camp. All the different smells, cats coming and going... wonderful. Ferncloud and Brightheart wouldn't worry if they took some prey for themselves and talked with some of the other cats, would they? She pelted to the fresh-pile and was about to take a plump mouse when a a even larger rabbit was dropped in front of her. Squirrelkit's mouth began to water and she instantly dove into the prey, not caring about who gave it to her. Leafkit was about to spring to her sister and eat he rabbit when a equally sized water vole was placed in front of her. She instead quickly gorged that down.

Two laughs were heard from above the cats. One deep and friendly, from a tom obviously, and the other was as beautiful as birds singing in early New-Leaf, sweet and kind. Squirrelkit and Leafkit looked up to find a dark brown tabby tom with dark amber eyes looming over Squirrelkit. The giver of Leafkit's water vole was a young white tortishell she-cat with amber eyes. They both devoured as much as their meals as they could, then looked up to face their givers.

"Brambleclaw!" Squirrelkit shouted, his amber eyes gleamed with happiness at her. She leapt up on him, and tousled him to the ground. Leafkit greeted Sorrelpaw less violently, but with the same happiness.

"Alright, alright," Brambleclaw said. "Get off!" He stepped onto all fours, and Squirrekit went sliding down his back. "Sometimes I wish you were more like your sister, thanking me sweetly and not knocking me to the ground. But then again I might not like you as much."

"Thanks for the water vole," Leafkit said to Sorrelpaw, "It must've been hard to get it."

Sorrelpaw tossed a paw into the air. "What are you saying? It was easy. But I did get my tail dunked in the water..." She squinted at her rear, then turned back around to Leafkit. "But it was worth seeing you eat so fast. You're getting bigger by the day!"

Leafkit laughed kindly, "Thanks, now I have to get some food for Ferncloud and Brightheart." She turned back towards the fresh-kill pile, then stopped at the sight of her half-eaten water vole. "But what should we do about the other half of the vole?" She asked. "We can't waste what food StarClan gives us."

Sorrelpaw laughed, then selected a plump sparrow and two mice from the pile and dropped them in front of Squirrelkit and Leafkit. "You guys bring these to the queens," she said. "Brambleclaw and I will finish the scrawny remains of your food."

Squirrelkit nodded and grabbed the two mice then bolted to the nursery. Ferncloud was sleeping on her nest, and she dropped the prey by her. Brightheart nodded as Leafkit dropped the sparrow in front of her and she tossed the wad of moss to Squirrelkit. Squirrelkit grabbed it in her mouth and bolted back outside, her sister at her heels.

Brambleclaw and Sorrelpaw were eating down the remains of the kits' food. "...Graystripe is a good mentor," Sorrelpaw said when she turned away from her food for just a slightest moment before diving back in. "But I can tell he doesn't like mentoring that much, I bet I'll probably be his last apprentice, well, second to last."

Brambleclaw nodded somely. "Yes, I think Firestar liked mentoring me, but I have no idea. Don't worry, you'll be a warrior in two moons, I can gaurantee that. You'll be with Rainwhisker and Sootfur."

Sorrelpaw ate the last of her vole. "Yes, thank StarClan Cinderpelt is such a good medicine cat, if she wasn't, I would be in the elders' den right now."

Leafkit's eyes lite up at the name of the medicine cat. She turned to Squirrelkit. "I'm going to go to Cinderpelt's den," she said. "I'll be back soon." Squirrelkit nodded, and her sister rose from the ground and trotted hapily to the medicine cat den. Squirrelkit turned back to Brambleclaw, to find he was done with the rabbit. She stepped close to him and laid down next to him, resting her head on one of his forepaws.

"Brambleclaw?"

"Hmmmmm," he replied.

"Who do you think my mentor will be?"

"Who ever Firestar chooses." he said, not wanting to talk and just enjoy the situation.

Squirrelkit rose back up. "Brambleclaw, really," she said. "Who do you think will be my mentor?"

He didn't meet her eyes. "Must you know now? You'll find out tomorrow."

Squirrelkit pawed at his face. "Come on, I just want to know what you think, Cinderpelt is obviously going to be Leafkit's mentor, and they are so close. But what about me? What if my mentor hates me?" One of Brambleclaw's amber eyes opened. "I want you to be my mentor."

Brambleclaw rose his head. "Squirrelkit," he said. "Why would anyone not like you? You are kind and strong, and always want to help your Clan."

Squirrelkit's eyes widened and she sat up, her tail twitching. "Then you'll be my mentor! Yes! Ask Firestar, you're old enough and great at hunting and fighting. Brambleclaw please, you have to!"

Sorrelpaw joined the conversation, her voice had taken a serious tone. "Squirrelkit, you should go back to the nursery now, its getting late."

She shook her head. "No! Not until Brambleclaw says yes."

Brambleclaw stared at her, his eyes sad. "I'm sorry Squirrelkit, but I can't. I'm really sorry, but I can't."

"Why not?" Squirrelkit asked loudly. Sorrelpaw placed her tail over Squirrelkit's mouth. "Shush, Squirrelkit, this is not a simple matter," she whispered, her eyes fleeting through the camp to see if anyone was eavesdropping on them. "Brambleclaw can't ask him, you must understand that."

"Sorrelpaw, Brambleclaw," a voice said, trying to control its toxic anger. Squirrelkit looked above her to see Firestar staring at her, his green eyes furious. "Come to my den, I must speak with you."

Brambleclaw nodded numbly and rose, as did Sorrelpaw. He took one last glance at Squirrelkit before turning back around to Firestar. "Go to my den," Squirrelkit's father said coldly. "I'll meet you there." Sorrelpaw and Brambleclaw padded heavily away. Firestar turned to his daughter. "I never want to see you with either of those two again, especially Brambleclaw, do you understand me?"

"Why?" She asked bravely, but she shrunk when her father stared at her intensly.

"Because Brambleclaw is not a good cat," he responded.

"Why? He's nice."

"Because his father is Tigerstar."

Squirrelkit gasped. "What? That's not true! He's nothing like Tigerstar."

"He looks exactly like him," Firestar said. "I'm afraid he might turn on ThunderClan, and he might attack you first. Stay away from him, do you hear me? Sorrelpaw too, she spends too much time with him." The tip of his tail flicked. "Go, its getting late, tell you sister aswell, and never speak to any of those cats again. Do you hear me?"

She nodded, twitching with fear. Firestar placed his tail on her shoulder. "Don't worry, I'll protect you, and Leafkit too. I won't let anyone I love slip out of my paws, never again."

The following day, Leafkit and Squirrelkit were still shaken by their father's warning, but Ferncloud and Brightheart weren't. They licked them until their fur clung to their sides, and told them exactly what to do. Time passed quickly, and soon they heard their father yowl: "Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather here beneath the High Rock."

The two queens ushered them outside, despite their protests. "Don't worry," Brightheart whispered in Squirrelkit's ear. "You'll do fine, just listen and you'll know what to do."

Squirrelkit held back a retort. _I'm scared! I don't want to do this. What if he gives me Brambleclaw as my mentor? Would he do that?_ She wasn't scared of saying the wrong thing, but her father's words. Brambleclaw could have attacked her at any time and killed her easily with one swipe of his paw. But Brambleclaw was nice and caring and he said he didn't want anything bad to happen to her, was it really true? Was he the son of Tigerstar?

"Today, two kits have reached the age to become apprentices," Firestar said, and Squirrelkit's attention snapped back to him. "Leafkit, Squirrelkit, step forward."

Ferncloud's paw lightly pushed Squirrelkit to her paws, and she found herself walking towards the High Rock. The cats had formed a half circle around the rock, but a small path was etched between it and her Clan mates. Graystripe was seated at it's foot, and as Squirrelkit passed by, he whispered into her ear; "You're doing fine, don't worry, I'm sure you'll like your mentor."

Squirrelkit's heart pounded against her rib cage. Every cat knew how close she was to Brambleclaw, that must be what he meant. She would rather run off and join ShadowClan or become a kittypet. Anything but what lay before her.

Leafkit stopped, and Squirrelkit almost ran into her, but managed to control her paws. "Leafkit," Firestar said. Squirrelkit watched as her sister stepped forward, her eyes glowing. "From this moment on you will be known as Leafpaw. Cinderpelt," The medicine cat limped forward, her blue eyes sparkling. "You are a great medicine cat, teach Leafpaw your ways, and may she help her Clan through the ways of a medicine cat."

"I will do my best, Firestar," Cinderpelt responded.

Squirrelkit's father leaped down and touched Leafpaw's forehead with his nose. Leafpaw licked his shoulder in return then turned to her new mentor. They touched noses and Cinderpelt whispered something to her before the two stepped back into the crowd.

"Squirrelkit," Firestar said. Her heart was racing as she took the last steps forward, she wanted to faint, barf, anything to get her out of this. "From this moment on you shall be known as Squirrelpaw." Squirrelpaw closed her eyes tightly, the final name would change her forever. What ever he chose-

"Dustpelt."

Squirrelpaw wanted to go to Fourtrees and jump off one of the oaks. She had gotten so worked up over this. "You have trained Ashfur well, and Sorrelpaw has learned from your short mentorship." Firestar continued. "I know you will train my daughter well and make her a great warrior."

"I will do my best, Firestar," Dustpelt said as he emerged from the crowd. Firestar touched his nose to Squirrelpaw's forehead, and she managed to only give him a short lick on the shoulder, rather than covering his whole body with her drool of gratitude. She turned over to her new mentor, and they touched noses. The tabby tom then turned around and motioned with his tail for her to follow him into his spot in the crowd. When they reached there, sitting down next to him felt wonderful, knowing she was safe with him.

The apprentices started the cheer. "Leafpaw! Squirrelpaw! Leafpaw! Squirrelpaw!" Soon the whole entire Clan had joined in, their voices mixing into a one bass note. Then, Firestar joined in. Soon, the cheering faded, and the cats moved into small groups, or went over to congratulate Squirrelpaw and her sister. When all the cats had returned to there rightful places, Dustpelt finnaly spoke.

"We'll take a tour of the territory today," he said, "That might take a while, so we'll probably get back at around sunset. Then you can get some real apprentice duties."

"Okay!" Squirrelpaw said happliy, she followed her mentor into the woods. He pointed out landmarks and showed her the borders. At the RiverClan border, Stormfur, Feathertail and Mistyfoot were out on a patrol. She only had enough time to tell them she was now an apprentice, then say her good-byes. Once, Dustpelt stopped, opened his mouth, and took a huge breath in. "What are you doing?" She asked.

"This is how you taste the air," he replied. "I smell prey, you do it too, and tell me what animal you think it is."

Squirrelpaw opened her mouth, and breath in deeply. Instantly, a strange scent clung to the top of her mouth. It seemed familar to her, but she couldn't place her paw on it. "Mouse?" She asked. "It's really strong."

Her mentor nodded. "Yes, the mouse is probaly still her, look." He had raised his paw in the direction of a tree, and there was a mouse, scurrying along at the base, collecting stared at her playfully. "Do you want to try and catch it?"

Squirrelpaw nodded. She hadn't practiced her hunting crouches and would probably miss, but it wouldn't hurt just to try. "Alright," Dustpelt said, he then lowered himself onto the ground and gave Squirrelpaw a short and not-so-sweet demonstration of the hunter's crouch. She tried to kneel onto the ground like Dustpelt had, then she stepped lightly forward, hardly breathing.

The mouse hadn't seen her coming, she lunged on it, silent as the night, and killed it before it could make a sound.

"Great job!" Dustpelt said proudly, when she turned around, prey in her mouth, he had turned away from her, and was staring at a large oak with an uprooted root **(A/N: Couldn't have picked a better word, could I?)**. "Your mother was a fabulous hunter as well, we both became apprentices on the same day, she was born on the same day I was. Our mothers were close friends, and since neither of us had any brothers or sisters, we were very close, she was like my sister."

"Please tell me more," Squirrelpaw pleaded. "Please, I know nothing about my mother except her name, Sandstorm."

Dustpelt stared at her intensly. "When we became apprentices, our mentors took us to explore the territory. Your mother saw a squirrel by that tree, and caught it, she had never learned her hunting crouch, and killed it before it could squeak. But one the day your mother died your father was there hunting, Cloudtail stormed out of the bushes and told him your mother was going to die." His face turned grim. "Do you know exactly how your mother died?"

Squirrelpaw shook her head. "No, all I know is that she was giving birth to Leafpaw and I."

"That is a story for another day," Dustpelt said. "Grab your mouse, lets head back to camp."

The journey was made in silence. Squirrelpaw's mind had grown wings and was flapping around, occasionaly bumping into her skull. Even the short information Dustpelt gave made her feel closer to her mother, but with every paw step away from the oak she felt three fox-lengths farther. Why had her father never told her this? Doesn't she have a righ to know about her mother? To know how she looked, how she died?

Her daydream came to an abrupt end when she ran into Dustpelt's rear. "Grab something from the fresh-kill pile and give it to the elders along with that mouse of yours," he instructed dryly. "Then get something to eat, and tell Shrewpaw and Whitepaw to clean out the elders old bedding and get more. We'll go to Fourtrees tomorrow and the ShadowClan border tomorrow." Squirrelpaw nodded and took a large blackbird from the fresh-kill pile, and padded heavily over to the elders' den.

Frostfur greeted her with a quick nod as she entered, then joined back in on her argument with the other elders on wether WindClan or RiverClan would start trying to push the borders.

"I'm telling you, RiverClan of course!" Longtail said, his whiskers twitching. "They've been trying to steal Sunningrocks from us for countless moons! They are too proud to give up that easily."

Dappletail shook her head. "No, WindClan will. I can tell this Leaf-bare will be one of the worst, I can feel it in my bones. They'll try and take some of the forest for better protection."

Speckletail gave her a proper welcoming. "Hello Squirrelpaw, my, did you catch that mouse yourself?" She asked as Squirrelpaw dropped the prey in front of her.

She nodded, the tip of her tail twitching. She didn't want to talk; she wanted to just race back into the forest and just spend the rest of her life at the oak, it felt right there, like her mother was watching her, liking she was speaking to her silently. It was one of the best thiongs to ever happen to her. Nothing ever felt to right.

"Your mother was a great hunter as well," the arguing cats suddenly quieted, and stared at the floor. Even Longtail bowed his head. "The greatest in ThunderClan, your father would call her. It's a shame she went so young. But without her passing, we would not be blessed with you and your sister. You are both very vital to ThunderClan."

Squirrelpaw felt tears well in her eyes. Speckletail's words were so kind, and they made her want to go to the oak even more. "Thank you," she said joyfully. "Thank you so much!" She ran quickly out of the den, and she felt like she had grown wings.

"Squirrelpaw!" A voice shouted, waking her from her perfect daydream. She turned in the direction of the voice, and found Brambleclaw sitting near the fresh-kill pile, a half-eaten sparrow in front of him and an untouched vole beside. "Squirrelpaw _please_," he said, his amber eyes gave away his mixed emotions. "I need to talk to you."

She was frozen in place. _Would this be when he attacks me?_ She thought dreadfully. _Is he really an evil cat?_ She scanned the clearing, no other cats were there to watch him bite her neck, then drag her body into some unknown hiding place to bury after the commotion has boiled down.

He sighed. "Fine, I guess a natural confrontation won't work. What Firestar told you is true, my father was Tigerstar of ShadowClan."

Hearing him say it made it seem even less real. He was so nice, offering to talk with her to try and mend their friendship. But Firestar had told her he was plotting to rebuild his father's legacy, had her father been lying to her?

"I don't want to be like him," he said, staring directly into her eyes. "I look exactly like him, except my claws. It feels like a curse, having to be a reflection of the most evil and hated cat in all of the Clans. I remember when Firestar told me that he had tried to kill Bluestar countless times." He turned away and faced the sky, recalling old memories. "I felt the same way you probably do now. I had met him before, and he treated me so nicely, and he said he loved me."

Brambleclaw's claws **(A/N: Why must the last part of his name be claw?)** drove deep into the earth, and his face twisted into one of loathing. "I didn't believe it at first, but he was right, I discovered that when he sent BloodClan into the forest. Even after all the evidence I thought he was a good cat! I thought he just had different ways of doing things so he joined ShadowClan and was going to try and give it back its former strength, so that all four Clans could live in peace." He turned to Squirrelpaw. "But our situation is different, here, I am a good cat, I know I'm haunted by my father's shadow, but I would never try to hurt you, or any other cat. You have to trust me, Squirrelpaw."

Squirrelpaw was once again frozen. The dark tabby warrior sighed, and rose. "I don't know why your father lied to you," he said comfortingly. "But he definitly doesn't want to see you with me. How ever much I hate it, it's best if no cat sees us together, I don't want him to poison you with lies anymore." With that, he walked into the warriors den, leaving the vole behind. Squirrelpaw ate it quickly. Her mind kept filling with thoughts about what Brambleclaw had told her, but she pushed them away. Right now she had to go to the oak, her heart told her that.

She was soon in the forest; and after trudging through countless twisting paths and never finding the tree. She was about to give up when she saw it, its bark glowing to her. She padded slowly over, her mind blank, and no heart inside her.

"Mother..." she whispered, tears came to her eyes, but a sense of belonging came to her. Something she had never felt before. It felt like she was wanted...like she was..._loved._ "I'm here Mother, oh I'm here, and I never want to leave."

She laid down underneath the uprisen root and stuffed herself under it. The cold bark felt warm against her, and she found herself saying everything aloud. Her tears fell freely, and they kept coming, she didn't try to fight them. "I don't know who I can trust," she said after completing her story about Brambleclaw and Firestar. "Firestar has always been their for me, but Brambleclaw wouldn't hurt anyone, and he visited me everyday. He gave me fresh-kill, he told me the story about how the snakes got to Snakerocks, how ShadowClan began to fight in the dark, and how RiverClan got the river. He told me about LeopardClan, TigerClan and LionClan, he told me the Warrior Code. I can't picture life without him..."

_Sometimes, you need to learn to trust yourself in your own desicion..._

Squirrelpaw's ear perked up. "What was that?" She asked aloud. She slid out from under the roof and bunched her muscles, ready to spring. "I-I'm warning you, stay away! Or I'll fight!"

_To trust others will bring you friends that will stand by you no matter what, it will give you all you need to survive._

She turned around and scanned the forest franticly, searching for who had spoken. The voice hadn't come from any certain direction. It had come from her mind! "Who are you?" she asked again, though more quietly.

_Answers won't come flying into your paws, _the voice said sarcasticly. _You have to search sometimes, and figure somethings out for yourself._

A shift of light caught her eye. She turned to where it was, but it wasn't there. Then, it was somewhere else. The light was moving! It flased by her, and she squinted her eyes, trying to make out its shape. A cat! She realized, the light wasn't a light, it was a cat. But why did it glow like that, why did it make no shadow, why was it transparent?

_Follow, you fur-brain!_ The voice hissed. _Go!_

She found herself racing through the forest, following the cat/light/transparent-thing. At first, she didn't know where it was taking her, but soon RiverClan scent filled her nostrils.

It was taking her to the RiverClan border!

Soon she saw the river at Sunningrocks, she was ready to stop, when the cat made a sudden turn away. She followed it, and she had never been this way before, the cat must be taking her to Fourtrees!

Now, after all this running, the cat was still sprinting through the forest, and Squirrelpaw was trying desperatly to keep up. "Slow... down..." she panted.

Suddenly, the cat stopped. It had its head turned to face the sky. Squirrelpaw looked up, and the rest of her remaining breath forced out of her.

Four large oaks loomed over her, casting a shadow over the whole forest. They were ancient trees, but they were covered with leaves and seemed like they could never be forced down. It was like an inpentintrable sheild, gaurding whatever was inside it.

"Why have you taken me here?" Squirrelpaw asked the creature. It didn't do anything response, but instead quickly faded away. "Hey!" She hissed. "Where are you?"

_You might want to run._ The voice advised. _Look behind you, and prepare to run for your life._

She looked behind her and her green eyes widened. Behind her, were three figures, like the first. But instead of a warm light, they were a cold darkness, they hissed, revealing rows of sharp black fangs. They unsheated their claws, which were as black as night, and took after Squirrelpaw. She sprinted away, her heart hammering. She had to get away... what would these creatures do to her when they found her. She wasn't focused on where she was going, only on getting away.

_Stop! _The vioce commanded. But Squirrelpaw wasn't hearing. She just kept running. The ground below her became smooth and flat, and she could no longer hear her persuers snarling or their paws thudding on the ground. She fell to the ground, panting hard.

"I'm safe," she thought aloud.

_I wouldn't be thinking anything about being safe,_ the voice said in her mind.

Then, a huge roar echoed in her ears. Blinding light poured around her, and she got a good look at her surrondings. She was lying on a smooth, black surface, its smell was sharp and tangy, and it burned Squirrelpaw's tongue. Other unfamilar smells surronded her, one putrid and bitter. She turned in the direction of the roar, and screeched.

It was a huge blue thing, its legs short and rounded. Light poured out of its nose, and it snarled and grunted with each movement closer to her. It was only several foxtails away, and it was going to get her soon. She tightened her muscles, and was ready to spring when the voice echoed inside her head. Time seemed to freeze. _You _d_on't have enough time to run, it'll hit you with its paws._ It instructed. _Roll up tightly, and don't move, now!_

She curled herself into a ball, closed her eyes and prayed the voice wasn't trying to kill her. Her heart pounded, and she could hardly hear the monster as it raced over her, brushing against her fur. She remained curled, preparing to feel it topple on top of her and crush the life out of her.

_Your safe now, open your eyes. _

Squirrelpaw did so, and she rose. "Where am I?"

_I would go back to ThunderClan territory first, then ask. _The voice advised. Squirrelpaw turned to her right, and saw the familar sights of ThunderClan. She quickly sprinted over, afraid that another monster would try to make her their prey. When she reached her own territory, she fell to the ground, panting. "What just happened?"

_That was a monster, you were on the Thunderpath, and monsters go back and forth frequently on it. _The voice responded tartly. _You're lucky your small, or else your head would have hit the bottom of the monster, and you would have moved and it would have run over you. _

Something inturrupted Squirrelpaw's thoughts. She stood up, tensed her muscles, and growled. Sadly, her growl was pathetic, and the scurrying noises didn't go away. They came from a bush near her, it rustled uncontrolably. Then a figure stepped out, it completly ignored Squirrelpaw, and turned to her left, facing directly at nothing. It stepped out into the light, and Squirrelpaw was able to identify it as a cat. It was a young dark tortiseshell she-cat; she had a white muzzle, paws and tail tip, and amber eyes that were bathed in anger.

"What are you doing here?" It screeched, enraged. "I told you not to go out, not to come here, we might be discovered! You can't endanger us like that, you can't put _them _in danger."

_They will find out eventually! _The voice argued. _And I am needed here aswell, you can't stop me! They need help, they're alone, Spottedleaf._

Unlike the other times when the voice spoke, it seemed to come from a certain direction, her left. She didn't face it yet, instead she closed her eyes and yowled, "She can hear you, too?""

The voice now had a sound, instead of just an endless echo in her mind. "You can hear her?"

"I can see her!" She screeched.

Squirrelpaw took a deep breath, and opened her eyes. She twisted her head to her left, and saw what had produced the voice that had saved her life.

IC: I really don't like this chapter, I don't. I was gone for so long and I give you a crappy short chapter like this?!!? I promise the next chapter will be much more interesting, much better. I don't really have much to say becuase this chappie isn't sad so.... R&R.


	4. Seeing

Iceclaw: Hey people I'm back! Sorry it took me so long, but I know this chapter will be very good, okay? I know it will. This one will be long and interesting, and from Leafpaw's PoV. Hope you enjoy it and all. Disclaimer: I am really getting tired of this. I own nothing bla bla bla....

"Leafpaw, do you see those blue berries in the storage? Can you get them for me?"

Leafpaw nodded, she loved being a medicine cat, even though she had only been one for a couple of moments. She padded over to the storage areas and searched with her paw until she found some of the blue berries. She scraped them out with her paw and sniffed them, the smell was sweet and faint, they probably didn't even have much of a taste.

She grabbed it and walked over to where her mentor was wrapping up bundles of herbs. Cinderpelt turned to her, her blue eyes sparkling. "Lay them right here," she directed. Leafpaw obeyed, and Cinderpelt snarled. "Great, we hardly have enough, Thornclaw and Frostfur have stomach aches, and I'm afraid some other cats might get it too."

The medicine cat took half of the berries and wrapped them, she pushed it towards her apprentice. "Here," she instructed. "Go and give these berries to Frostfur, I'll bring the other half to Thornclaw. I don't want any cats sick now that Greenleaf is coming to an end."

Leafpaw nodded and took the bundle before racing out the den. She tried to walk with dignity to the elders' den, but she was only able to confine herself from leaping up to the Highledge and screaming with joy. She was going to be a medicine cat! She could cure cats and she wasn't part of Clan conflicts, she was a symbol of peace. And one day, she would teach another young cat who wanted to help his Clan through the ways of the medicine just as much as she had. **(A/N: Sorry, Leafpaw, but that doesn't happen, nothing like that happens, no no no.)**

"Hello, Leafpaw," Leafpaw jumped in surprise, she hadn't noticed she was in the elders' den, she turned in the direction of the voice, which turned out to have emerged from Frostfur. "How do you like being an apprentice medicine cat?"

Leafpaw dropped the bundled and answered. "I love it, it is so amazing. Just the smell of the herbs and all their uses is making me grow wings."

Frostfur nodded, then turned to the bundle. "Are those my juniper berries?"

"Yeah, sorry their aren't very many, Cinderpelt and I have to go collect some more."

"It's okay, sweetie, don't worry." She unwrapped the leaf and quickly gorged down the berries. "Now, tell Cinderpelt to take her time on getting the berries, my stomach ache is getting better."

Leafpaw nodded, and exited the den. She heard Longtail whisper something. "Every time I look at her, I think of Sandstorm."

Her heart stopped. She had to hear what was happening next, she spotted the huge thistle and bracken between the medicine cat den and the elders' den. She bolted into them, the thorns driving into her skin, but she couldn't give this up. She _had _to know about her mother, she had too.

She moved through the thicket until she could smell the elders. She looked around, the thicket hid her perfectly, and as long as the elders didn't see her eyes, she would remain unseen.

"What do you mean, Longtail?" It was Dappletail's voice now. "She is not like her mother, I see her in Squirrelpaw."

Leafpaw's heart sank, but she knew she would still find out about her mother, so she kept her ears pricked.

"Yes, I see where you are going, but you aren't looking deep enough inside her." Longtail said back. "I know she probably looks nothing like her, and she might not have her personality. But I know Sandstorm is in her."

"Would you mind explaining to us how exactly you know Sandstorm is in her?" Frostfur advised.

"Well, Sandstorm never believed in violence, she always thougth there was another way. And don't you see how much Leafpaw likes being a medicine cat? You can see she wants to pass down its ways as a mentor. Sandstorm loved mentoring Sorrelpaw, she desperately wanted an apprentice, and so does her daughter. Both of them care about everything, they both believed that the Clans could live in piece."

The den was filled with silence for a moment. Leafpaw found herself begging to StarClan that the elders would continue talking about her mother.

Frostfur seemed to have heard her plea. "Sandstorm was such a strong, brave cat, her passing was so sudden, so terrible." Leafpaw's heart leaped, now she would know how her mother died! She needed to know.

Her luck ran out.

"Leafpaw, come on back into the den, we need to go out and collect some herbs."

_No, no!_

"Come on, Leafpaw!"

Leafpaw sighed, she had to leave, her heart had sunk to her paws as she weaved her away through the thistle and bracken, praying that no cat would spot her. Luckily, no one did, then padded to the medicine cat's den, the tip of her tail grazing the ground. When she entered, Cinderpelt had turned to her, her gaze turning into one of curiosity. "What's wrong? I swear RiverClan must have heard your tail hit the ground."

"I'm just a bit tired, that's all." She lied.

"Well, I was going to take this oppurtunity to show you where all the herbs grow," Cinderpelt said. "But, if your tired, I can go collect the herbs and you can stay here and rest. Is that okay?"

Leafpaw wanted to be alone, and the young medicine cat's idea promoted her wish. "Yes, I'm sorry I won't be able to go though..."

"It's okay, today was a very big day for you, go get something to eat and take a rest, alright?"

"Thanks, Cinderpelt." Leafpaw yawned.

The gray she-cat nodded, then made her way out of the den. Leafpaw waited until she was certain her mentor was in the forest before she padded outside, looking everyway, making sure no cats would find her, luckily, most cats were hunting or training their apprentice, so the clearing was empty except for Ferncloud cleaning herself outside of the warriors den. She snuck back into the thistle, and pricked her ears, praying that the elders were still continuing on their previous conversation.

"No!" Leafpaw's heart sped up, it was Longtail's voice. "RiverClan of course! They think they have rights to the Sunning Rocks!"

Her heart died, and she made her way out of the thistle, not caring if anyone saw her; she walked to the fresh kill pile, and ate a sparrow, well, more like she put the meat in her mouth, then swallowed, not even bothering to chew. She stomped angrily back to the medicine cats' den, and she laid down on her nest, grumbling. Suddenly, she felt tired, and the moment she blinked she fell asleep.

She was standing in blackness, complete darkness. She tasted the air, nothing, no smell. She didn't hear anything either, it was like she wasn't anywhere, she was just nowhere. She felt cold, and wind buffeting her pelt, but their was no breeze. Suddenly, she heard a voice repeating the same line over and over, slowly getting louder and louder.

_Leafpaw, I love you Leafpaw, don't ever forget._

The words became a cuse, echoing in her mind, thundering against her skull, and spreading the static through her entire body. It was maddening, and the young apprentice colapsed to the ground, placing her paws over her ears, shaking her head, trying to force the words out of her head.

"Stop!" She found herself screaming. "Stop, Stop!" She shut her eyes, and held them tight.

_Don't ever forget._

_Don't ever forget._

_Don't ever forget._

Now the voice was screaming in her ears, yowling at such intense volume. It was like a battle cry, meant to shake the enemy; to try and get them to surrender, but yet still craving the thought of their claws tearing flesh.

"Alright! I won't forget! I won't!"

Suddenly, the voices stopped, and the world faded back to the blackness. The slowly opened her eyes, and found herself in the medicine cat den. She sniffed, all the scents came flooding into her, and she could hear birds squaking to one another in the forest. She hardly had time to breathe when she saw a figure race past the den.

Leafpaw blinked, and the figure didn't return. Probably just a cat passing by, a trick of light. She sat up, and began grooming herself, trying to let her mind stay off the weird dream. But her mind always drifted of to it. It was so weird, she had felt to cold, so empty. But the weirdest thing was the voice, she'd never heard it before, but it still echoed in her head, and it made her thinking fuzzier. It was as though the curse had set a fog to wrap around her brain, causing her to think less clearly.

_Go, hurry now, we need to go._

Leafpaw sprung her head up, and felt her heart beating faster and faster, her fur rising off her skin. She didn't see anyone, no cat intruding her peace, but she was still shaken. She used her paw to shove away the lichen at the entrance and walked out into the clearing. It was empty not a single cat could be seen. The camp seemed dead, not a single soul residing anywhere.

_Come on, we must hurry._

She spotted a cat seated next to the elders den. It was an old tom, not from ThunderClan. He was dark gray with patched, but white fur lined his muzzle and eyes, showing his ancient age. His pale blue eyes seemed to bore into her, digging deep into her, reading her mind, all her private thoughts. The tom nodded, then spoke.

"Leafpaw, I am finnaly being graced with your presence." His voice was creaky, but it showed great wisdom and knowledge. He waited for Leafpaw to respond, but she was too shocked to even move. "Ah, so your mother was right, your father hasn't told you anything has he?"

Energy burst through Leafpaw, "My mother?"

"Shh," He said, glancing around making sure no cat had heard her outburst. "I can't explain here, you have to come with me, then we can talk." He rose, and turned away from her before glancing back and motioning with his tail. "Come now, we don't have much time, you can run, can't you?"

Before Leafpaw could do anything, the tom was off, pelting through the forest and unrealistic speeds for a cat his age, or any cat, for that matter, much faster than the cats of LeopardClan. Leafpaw leaped forward, and tried to catch up, but it was no use. He was so fast... she never got a glance at him. She could hardly steer, she scratched herself against bushes and scraped herself countless times against the bark of trees. Her cuts burned into her, her muscles were screaming for rest, and her mind told her it wasn't possible, that she was still dreaming and should just go back to camp, nibble on some poppy seeds, and go to sleep.

But her heart urged her on.

Soon, the forest ended, and she stood in a clearing, there was no sign of the tom who had lead her. She must have gone the wrong way, and now she was lost, amd would have to turn back around. She turned away, and was about to take her first step back towards camp, when something snarled from behind her. She quickly twisted around. In front of her, were three cats, black as the night. They were huge, the size of lions, they had black teeth, which glittered in the sunlight.

The biggest, stepped forward, its black eyes gleaming. "You better run, unless you want to become a nice little meal."

It didn't take the warning to set the apprentice sprinting, she weaved through the trees, her paws scraping against the ground. The beasts were at her heels, sneering and snapping at her hind paws. They growled at her, clawing at her hind legs, one managed to scrape her flank, causing a new wave of pain to soar through her, it blinded her, and she knew she wouldn't be able to run for much longer.

She dove through the trees, and soon spotted another clearing, but the only way to it was through a bush thistle bush. She knew her persuers wouldn't be able to fit, and it was her only hope. She sprinted towards the bush, then settled quickly onto the ground, clawing her way though. The beasts yelped in frustration at losing their prey, and clawed at the thistle, screeching.

When she was free of the bush, she turned away, trying to leave them behind forever, but she could still hear them gnashing their teeth and licking their muzzles in her head. She looked around the clearing and her heart stopped when she saw her sister.

"Squirrelpaw!" She yowled, running towards her sister. The young ginger she-cat turned to face her sister, but her face was hard, her eyes cold. "Squirrelpaw?"

Her sister blinked, and her green eyes returned to their usual glowing state. "Leafpaw, do you see them?"

Leafpaw blinked, and she looked around the clearing. No one else was there except for the two sisters. Squirrelpaw's hair stood up, and her voice was edgy with fear. Like Leafpaw, she was torn at some places, her fur missing and her paw pads were bleeding from running. "What are you talking about?" Leafpaw asked her sister. "No one's there."

Her sister looked behind her and stared at a bush, as though waiting for a cat to emerge. "But, but I saw them! They're gone!"

Leafpaw licked her sister's ear comfortingly. "Your just tired, I saw some things too, but they don't exist, its just the heat playing with us. We're just tired, let's head back to camp."

Squirrelpaw followed her back, but she kept mumbling things like, 'I saw them,' and 'but they were there.' Leafpaw wasn't exactly feeling so great either, the old tom had frightened her, his intense speed for his age, but most of all how he talked about her mother as though they were Clan mates, going on patrols together and grooming one another. It was frightening. The huge beasts were scary, and they had appeared out of thin air, and had instantly wanted to attack her.

Upon retuning to camp, other cats were there, most were scraped and scared, and others tended to their wounds. "What do you think happened?" Leafpaw whispered to her sister, who shrugged. Leafpaw sighed, "I'm going to go to Cinderpelt, you go find Dustpelt."

Squirrelpaw nodded numbly and walked off, Leafpaw padded quickly to the medicine cats' den, to find Cinderpelt tending to Ashfur, whom had an unsightly gash on his muzzle, Cinderpelt pushed cobwebs into the wound, then fed him several poppy seeds before she turned away and spotted her apprentice.

"Leafpaw!" she gasped, "What happened?"

She felt stones fall on her shoulders. What was she supposed to say, that she was following some old tom that could run at an unrealistic rapid speed, and then was chased through the forest by huge black beasts? "Well I...." she began, but her mentor cut her off.

"Did you go into the forest looking for me, when you ran straight into the battle with RiverClan?"

So there had been a battle with RiverClan, that was why everyone was injured. Leafpaw nodded, "Yes! I just got something to eat and I felt loads better so I went to find you when a RiverClan apprentice started battling me, though he had the element of surprise, I still beat him."

Cinderpelt nodded, "Good, now I'll take care of your wounds then we can start working on everyone else's, right?"

Leafpaw nodded, glad to have something to distract her from her odd adventure. Cinderpelt crammed her with cobwebs, then they both set to work on everyone else with their wounds. But still through her mentor calling out for her to gather herbs and apply them to wounds, her mind kept drifting back the tom. He was so calm, like he knew how this was going to work out, like he knew when Leafpaw was going to die, so he was in no hurry. It was so misleading, like a cat his age could really run so fast and know the fate of every cat.

Soon, the sun had set and Cinderpelt and Leafpaw were enjoying a rabbit. In between bites Cinderpelt would ask what happened to her, and Leafpaw would strain her mind to make up the most beleiveable story. Apparently she had been looking for Cinderpelt when the apprentice attacked her, Leafpaw had deafeted him as Leopardstar called her Clan back, but one of the warriors had clawed her flank as he left.

As soon as the rabbit was gone, Cinderpelt quickly fell asleep, and even though Leafpaw could hardly keep her eyes open, she still could sleep. Her mind was buzzing, had it all been a dream? But then why would Squirrelpaw been seeing things, too? Was there really cats chasing them, watching their every move, waiting for the perfect chance to strike?

Had they set up the battle?

IC: There ya go! I like this chapter, it was really fun for me to do. I just kind of made it up as I went, but I still think it doesn't look like I did, does it? Hope you guys liked this chappie as much as I did, and I have decided I will try to update each of my stories at least once a month, so go easy on me, okay? R&R!


	5. The Setting Sun

Iceclaw14: Hey people, what is up? How is life in the hizzie? Sorry it took me so long to do anything, I've been a total wreak lately. Seriously, I just have. I started this chapter before I realized that I had too many My Guardian Chapters, and then I must not have saved it because it just disappeared. I got about an hour into it, and now I'm starting it over again. Yay, what fun. Hope you dudes like this chapter. Disclaimer: I don't own anything blab la bla…..

**Page Break**

Squirrelpaw lay lifelessly on her over-worn and dirty bed of moss. The air around her felt cold, unwelcoming in every possible way as it rubbed her fur this way and that. She had to force her eyes shut, and tightly hold them shut, for fear that anything she might see would hurt.

Whitepaw stepped into the apprentices' den, a concern look scorched into her face. She stared at the ginger she-cat sadly. "Squirrelpaw," she said. "Come out, I just caught this really plump vole, its young and juicy; come share it with me."

"I'm not hungry," Squirrelpaw responded through clenched teeth.

"Come on, you've hardly eaten anything for this entire moon," Whitepaw said, a complaining tone to her voice. She cleared her throat, and said more affectionately, "I'm worried about you."

" Firestar gave me two moons to heal," she retorted bitterly. "I don't plan on wasting them."

The young white she-cat shook her head, than left the lonely apprentice without another word.

It was true that Firestar had given his daughter two moons to heal after the battle with RiverClan. But she wasn't badly hurt, only a few scars that healed several sunrises ago, but she was more hurt mentally. After the fight, she continuously mumbled to herself, and, when she was willing to speak to others, she often did it in a hurt tone; and told them to get away from her.

Even her sister Leafpaw didn't know what was wrong.

A cold breeze entered the den, and Squirrelpaw curled herself up closer, so that her limbs pressed uncomfortably against her body. She pressed her ears down as far as she could against her head, she wanted escape. She didn't want the world to attack her with its cold hard grasp. Imprisoning her in a world of dark secrets that could only hurt.

Her stomach growled loudly, and soon, she could ignore it no longer. She adjusted her position on the bed so that she faced the meadow with the fresh kill pile. The grass was covered in frost, and the unpleasant winds kept everyone from going outside. Everyone was sleeping peacefully. At the top of the pile there was a large, plump vole, its small mouth still hanging open.

Squirrelpaw's mouth watered, and her stomach growled louder. She warily looked in all directions for anyone leaving their dens, and then she bolted out into the meadow to the pile. She used her paw to knock down the vole in front of her, and she tore into it hungrily. In only a few rabid bites, the vole had disintegrated into only one small carcass and fur in front of her. She looked around cautiously, staying as quiet as possible.

The clearing was quiet, and she felt it safe to eat another piece. She grabbed a old, muddy sparrow that's feathers were frozen together. She ate it anyway, and soon her stomach was half-way full and another carcass lay carelessly before her.

"You definitely are hungry," said a voice behind her. Squirrelpaw felt the fur along her spine begin to bristle. She didn't want to turn around and face the voice, she wanted to run, but her muscles were weak. And she couldn't find the strength. "Here," said the voice.

A beautiful rabbit feel down before her. It was plump, and its skin was still harbored the slightest bit of warmth. Extremely fresh.

"Go ahead," encouraged the voice. "My treat."

Squirrelpaw continued to stare blankly down at the rabbit, and her mouth began to water. Her stomach and brain pressed her into eating it, but her body was frozen from fear. She didn't know what his voice was, or who was even talking to her. Whether or not it was a disembodied voice like the one that had pressed her on the previous moon, or whether it was a concerned Clan mate.

It could be one of those black creatures.

Her heart began to speed up, and her body became more aware of the cold air around her. She heard pawsteps from behind her; they became louder and louder as the figure came closer and closer.

Two dark brown paws appeared next to the rabbit, one paw pushed the rabbit closer to her. "Come on," said the voice patiently. "You're hungry, I know you are."

Other ridiculous thoughts moved in and out of her head. Whether this was a cat from any enemy Clan, a powerful one that had waited for her to wake. That they had killed all of ThunderClan and were planning on torturing her for the rest of her life; Whether this was a survivor of BloodClan or some powerful rogue.

She paws moved downward, and a dark brown tabby face appeared before her. His amber eyes were warm and concerned.

Brambleclaw.

"Eat, I caught this for you, and I want to see you eat it."

Squirrelpaw couldn't think of anything else to do other than obeying his command. She tore into the rabbit's back warily, and took a cautious bite. The meat was warm and juicy, and it slid easily down her throat. She took another gingerly bite, followed by another larger one, and another. She tore apart the prey, becoming more and more oblivious to her observer.

When the remaining meat disappeared, she had forgotten about Brambleclaw, and was only reminded of him when he chuckled.

"Wow, I didn't expect you to be this hungry," he laughed.

Squirrelpaw froze again, and the young warrior sighed. "Squirrelpaw I won't hurt you," he persuaded. "I've never hurt you."

The apprentice didn't respond, and after several minutes of silence, Brambleclaw rose, and he placed his large paw on her head.

"You know I would never hurt you."

Tigerstar's son left the daughter of the leader of ThunderClan alone in the clearing, still shivering from cold breezes that were only in her mind.

**Page Break**

At twilight, Squirrelpaw was lying in her bed in the apprentice's den, caught in a deep slumber. She twitched uncontrollably, and her limbs dug into her soft underbelly with a powerful force. But still she did not wake.

She was caught in a horrendous dream that would cause in the bravest warrior to cower in fright.

Squirrelpaw found herself inside a dense forest, with large trees of all different shapes and sizes, some that she had never seen before. They towered above her, reaching up toward the starry sky like deceased warriors rising into StarClan after fighting their last battle. She drew in a deep breath, tasting pine, fresh kill, and even fresh water. She heard a babbling stream nearby, and she weaved her way through the trees towards the noise.

The stream contained the purest water she had ever seen in her life. It was so clear, that she could see the gray stones beneath it as though there was not water between Squirrelpaw and the stones. At another part of the river, there were large stones that poked out of the surface, and they were big enough for a cat to walk on. She walked to the stones, and places her paw on one. Its surface was dry and hard, and it hurt her pink paw pads, but still she moved on.

When she crossed the river, she continued traveling through a small forest, following the river. Soon, the trees around her waned, and large, rocky cliffs took their place. At one point, her paw touched the stream, and it was as cold as snow. She instantly retracted her paw and moved away from it, but still following loyally.

Paths began to forge their way on the cliff walls, and caves marked the paths end. Rocks toppled on top of each other were arranged perfectly to keep rain from falling beneath the neatly arranged boulders. More caves appeared, and the air around her slowly warmed.

She was standing between several caves and dens forged from rocks and other things. She pricked her ears, listening for even the slightest sound. Suddenly, she heard a voice come from her left, above her. She looked up, only to find an empty cave. Her heartbeat sped, and she stood there for countless more minutes, listening for more sounds.

Another one came, it sounded like young kits laughing and play fighting, it came from a low den of piled rocks. She wanted to run through the gorge, to escape all the voices. But something held her back, she felt like she should stay.

"Come on, Raintail," a young voice said. "I want to go hunting today."

Along with the voices, figures started appearing before her. She saw a tan tom, only about eight or so moons old. He was talking with a dark gray tom with a dappled tail. Both of them were starving, and every bone in their body was perfectly visible. The elder tom looked worn and tired, but he was only about the age of a new warrior. His eyes were red and puffy, and he spoke hoarsely.

"Not now, Barkpaw," he sighed. "Right now is not the time, we are weak and tired from our journey, and you must let us rest."

The cats disappeared, as did all the voices, but new ones appeared. An old black she-cat was lying outside of one of the larger dens. Battle scars played across her entire body, and patches of fur were missing. A large scar ran across her nose, and across both of her eyes. She was blind.

She moved her head to the starry sky above her. "StarClan, did we deserve this? Was this the fate you always planned for us, your loyal servants?" She closed her sightless eyes, and then opened them again. "Shall I be doomed to wonder across this earth forever, never joining you?"

The she-cat disappeared, and Squirrelpaw felt the weight of the world fall on top of her. A gust of cold wind burned at her face, and so she buried her face in her chest, and kept her legs as straight as possible. Just as abruptly as it had arrived, the wind disappeared, but it was replaced my more voices and cats.

She saw a dark brown tabby tom, only ten moons old, with a small tortoiseshell she-cat. The moon above them was full, and it reflected in her green eyes, which were full of fear. They were looking up at the top of the cliff, and, following their eyes, Squirrelpaw saw an old dark gray tom with patched fur. It reflected almost silver in the moonlight; but she knew its real color.

That was the same cat she followed on the day of RiverClan's invasion.

The two young cats climbed easily up onto the paths engraved in the cliff, and they sat just below the old tom, who was sitting in a sincere silence, staring lovingly at the moon above him. The ancient cat sighed, and said loudly, "Only the descendents can help us rise again, and become stronger than ever before."

Again, the image before her disappeared, and she found herself staring at nothingness. Squirrelpaw felt breathing all around her, and she could feel a dozen heartbeats echo in her chest. She felt fur rub against both of her sides; as though a thousand cats were squeezed up next to her. She could hear them whispering quietly to each other, but was unable to make out the words. She could feel heat on every corner of her body; it almost made her feel welcome, like she belonged. But she knew she didn't.

Suddenly, all the noise around her stopped. And the cats around her started to regain more color and shape. The cat next to her, a black and white tom, was staring intently ahead, unwilling to let himself get distracted. Squirrelpaw followed his eyes, and found that he was staring at a dark ginger tom standing strongly atop of a large rock near the center of the gorge, the river running cleanly through it. His pelt was the color of fire, and his eyes were the color of Greenleaf leaves.

She recognized him immediately, Firestar, the great leader of ThunderClan.

Beside him stood a brown and cream tabby she-cat, she stood proud and tall, but her amber eyes made her seem reluctant. Below her, a large ginger tabby tom sat loyally. His color was darker than her father's, and seemed more like the color of perfect Leaf-fall leaves.

"I'm sorry to go," Firestar said in a voice that revealed his sorrow. "But you, SkyClan, have grown well. You have risen from the ashes of your ancestors; and you shall rule again." He turned to the she-cat next to him. "Though I have a Clan I must return to, I have friends and Clan mates who miss me, and they are still waiting for my return, I cannot let them wait forever.

"My staying," he continued, "would only make you weaker, because your leader, Leafstar, shall be wonderful one; and you would not receive her guidance, but mine. SkyClan and ThunderClan, we are two different worlds, but there shall always be a bond between us, whenever you shall need help, I shall come. Though I believe that Leafstar shall be able to guide you through any obstacle that may stand in your way."

The she-cat's eyes glimmered. "Thank you, Firestar." She said, "You have done much for SkyClan, and we shall forever be in your debt." She looked down to the other side of the rock she and Firestar stood upon, to a light ginger tabby she-cat. "And you too, Sandstorm. I'm afraid that we would not be here if not for you and your mate."

_Sandstorm._

The name spun in Squirrelpaw's head. It made her blood freeze, then rush uncontrollably through her body. She felt as though she had lost control over herself; like ever tree in every forest just fell onto the ground at the same time, so its responding echo moved loudly through every part of her body.

She stared intently at her mother, trying to dig beneath her joyfull appearance and see who she really was. She wanted to know everything about Sandstorm, she wanted her mother.

Sandstorm nodded thankfully. "Thank you Leafstar, but you do know that if you are ever in trouble, I shall always come to help you, no matter what."

The cats around her started chanting loudly, and you could hear the loyalty in their united voices. "Sandstorm, Firestar! Sandstorm, Firestar!" The names bore deep into her mind, half of her wanted to scream, but the other half wanted her just to stare at her mother. To find out about her, to know her life story just by looking at her; she wanted just to look at her forever, and never look away.

When Squirrelpaw turned, all the cats around her disappeared, and she was once again alone in the empty gorge. She spun around, but only the cold wind of grief was with her. "Sandstorm!" She screamed into nothingness. "Sandstorm, Sandstorm! It's me, your daughter, Squirrelpaw."

At that moment, directly ahead of her, Sandstorm ghosted into sight. Her body was translucent, but her daughter didn't notice. Sandstorm nodded, and spoke in a pure, impeccable voice that echoed cleanly through the gorge.

_"I have missed you, Squirrelpaw, I have been waiting for your arrival."_

She opened her mouth to respond, but her mother instead rose, and turned away, she flicked her tail, beckoning to her daughter.

_ "This way,"_ she commanded. _"We must go now and travel swiftly, we do not have much time."_

Squirrelpaw blinked, but obediently followed her mother. She walked quickly, but was still cautious not to leave her daughter behind. Her paws touched the ground lightly; if they even touched the ground at all the young she-cat did not know. Her mind felt blank, and she only did as her mother commanded. Follow.

Sandstorm followed the river, the same way she had been going before. Gradually, the river began widening, and Squirrelpaw was pushed farther and farther out, cautious of the frigid waters. Soon, the gorge broke in two, one side large, while the other was small, but that was where the river flowed. Sandstorm didn't stop at the fork, and she continued down the small path.

The descent was steep, but they slid down anyway. They arrived at a small waterfall; Sandstorm leaped gracefully down to the water pooling beneath her. She pointed with her tail to a rocky ledge, clearing commanding her daughter to instead climb down. Squirrelpaw eased herself slowly down the ledge, careful not to slip. Her mother was patient, though once one foot was in the water; she was on the move again.

The translucent she-cat walked around the side of the waterfall, easing her way out flawlessly. Squirrelpaw followed, and at one point almost slipped into the water; but her mother had appeared at the nick of time to steady her back on the rock.

They moved slowly down to another part of the water, where, once again, it pooled, but calmly. The water was draining out into a large cave, that's mouth opened up to the water. Sandstorm turned to her daughter, and spoke softly.

_ "Don't be afraid, don't be intimated. You can handle it, I know you can."_

Squirrelpaw nodded, and her mother placed one slow paw into the water; Squirrelpaw could already feel the water lapping up against her paws, and it sent a cold chill through her body. Her mother waded into the water that rose to her haunches; Squirrelpaw's entrance was slower, but she was moved on by her mother. Just her being there.

At first, the cave was dark, but soon the young she-cat noticed that spots on the wall began to glow a pure green color. She blinked, thinking they were just light from the stars reflecting on the walls. Then, they began to glow brighter, and she knew that they were not stars. She looked at her mother, who had traveled to the back of the cave where the small sources of light were more abundant. She walked forward to her, wanting her comfort.

When she was next to her mother, she did not feel comforting warmth, like how she felt with Brambleclaw. She instantly shook the thought away for two reasons. Her mother pricked her ears, and Squirrelpaw stayed as quiet as possible.

_"Listen," _her mother commanded._ "Don't make any noises."_

She obeyed her mother, and for countless moments she only heard the calming noise of the water sloshing up against her and the walls of the cave. Everything around her was silent, but still she felt like a thousand eyes were on her, waiting for her to move.

A soft sound emerged from the walls of the caves. She tried to control her beating heart, and keep her paws from twitching, but failed miserably. More sounds echoed through the cave, and she soon realized that they were whispers. Age old whispers, traveling through the cave as though time didn't have a grasp on them; they floated through the air, giving the entire cave an aura of never-ending peace.

She couldn't decipher what the voices said, but she continued to listen intently. Her mother stood silently for several moments, then sighed a ghostly sigh.

_"You need to follow the whispers, my daughter."_ She said, turning to Squirrelpaw with eyes glittering like the stars. _"Only they can lead you through the secrets of the past, only they can guide you to what you need to know."_

Her mother started to disappear, and Squirrelpaw yowled. "No, don't leave me!" Her mother shook her head, and she found herself alone in the cave, with only the glowing spots on the wall and the empty whispers around her. "I need you, "she whispered, "I need you."

**Page Break**

Squirrelpaw opened her eyes quickly. She was in the apprentice's den, no light filtered in, save for the dull shining of the stars and moon. She felt warmth beside her, and turned to find Whitepaw snuggled up next to her. She rose slowly, hoping to avoid disturbing her Clan mate.

She slipped out of the den to a moonlight bathed clearing. Dustpelt was standing guard at the entrance to camp, she crept slowly through the clearing, making her way silently to the medicine cat's den. She crept behind it, and held her breath as she passed the area where all the Clan made their dirt. She slipped by and into thick bracken.

She wound her way through countless trees, jumping over up risen roots. Thorns found their way into her pelt, but she refused to slow. She had a destination in mind, and she would not stop until she got there.

The moon cast deep shadows in the forest, and she constantly heard the rustle of prey. Her eyes hadn't adjusted to the dark, so she tripped countless times, but she never allowed herself to fall. She walked quickly with her tail low, and soon enough she began to run, her heart speeding for countless reasons.

The forest became more dense as she went farther and farther in, but she kept her eyes open for the one thing she needed.

She stopped when she came to the golden oak tree.

A large, thick root had made its way out of the ground, and Squirrelpaw crawled underneath it. She wanted the tree to comfort her, to warm her.

Though it was a tree; trees have no warmth, trees have no hearts.

Squirrelpaw felt like everyone around her had no hearts. Like they were just playing with her lives, like a Clan cat just toying with the mouse before suddenly striking it, but keeping it alive long enough for it to know it shall be eaten.

She found tears sliding down her cheeks, and she called softly for comfort. "Brambleclaw," she moaned quietly. "Where are you?"

He might have been there then, but he wasn't there now.

"Brightheart? Ferncloud?" She cried. "Dustpelt? Whitepaw?"

No one was there for her. Her throat was moist, and all she could think of doing was crying, crying until her life was over, until her sun would set and never rise again. She wanted to forget, she wanted to be forgotten.

"Firestar…" she moaned. "Sandstorm…"

But neither of her parents showed. She called them countless times, but whether or not they heard she didn't know, but she felt like she was walking this world alone, like no one was beside her.

A rustling in the bushes caught her attention. She prayed to StarClan it was a bear or a dog, something that would end her. A snake, a ruthless ShadowClan cat. Anything.

A cat emerged from the bush, and it advanced slowly to her. She closed her eyes tightly, causing the remainder of her tears to slip through her eye lids. The cat walked closer and closer towards her, until she could feel its warm breath on her. She opened her eyes, she wanted to know what her killer looked like.

Instead, she saw her sister, a worried and terrified look on her face. Her eyes reflected the moon clearly, and the young ginger she-cat could see the tears in her sister's eyes. "I-I had a dream," was all Squirrelpaw could manage.

Leafpaw stared at her intently, and her tears fell freely. "So did I," she looked up at the large oak tree, and didn't look back down. "She took me here."

They both looked into each other's eyes, and they both thought the same thing.

_Sandstorm._

**Page Break**

Iceclaw14: OoooooooOOoo, sorry, Paper Mario moment there. We are finding more and more about Sandstorm aren't we, but with everything we find our questions pile up even more. That sounds kinda like that song. _Hey I'll be gone today, but I'll be back something something… the more I see the less I know…_ Bla bla blah, yeah, I know nothing. Hope you people liked this chappie. And please people, Review!


	6. Lies

Iceclaw14: Hello people! Sorry it's been taking me so long to update. I've been so busy lately… it seems like I'm always busy. Well, Summer's coming, so that means vacations! But…. I don't have a laptop, so vacations also means less fanfiction! SO AWFUL. Oh, yes. A reviewer said that my story needs more action, and that brings up a very good point. My story has been progressing very slowly, so we won't be getting down into the deep part for a while… I'll try to speed it up and add some more actions scenes here and there. Disclaimer: I own nothing blah blah.

**Page Break.**

Leafpaw was thrust painfully onto the ground beneath her. Dirt flew up in a large, sandy plume around her. She sneezed, and began to rise unsteadily, trying to keep the weight off of her left hind leg. She was sore all over her body, and she winced as she rose up onto her paws.

"Come on, Leafpaw." Cinderpelt said from above her. "You can do better. Come on, attack me."

Leafpaw shook her head, trying to chase the dizziness away. When the world began to straighten around her, she focused her sigh on her mentor. She leaped forward, aiming for the gray she-cat's shoulders.

Cinderpelt dodged it by easily shifting to the left, leaving Leafpaw to fall haplessly onto the ground. With the momentum, she rolled around lifelessly down the hill before finally stopping on her side.

"What is with you today?" Cinderpelt asked worriedly. "You've never been so unfocused."

"I'm sorry, Cinderpelt." The young cat replied, rising slowly for the earth. "I just had this really weird dream last night."

Her mentor's eyes widened. "Tell me about it."

"Oh it was nothing." Leafpaw choked. "I was just chasing a butterfly near the Sunning Rocks when it turned into this huge bear." The lie began to slip more easily from her tongue. "It began to chase me and I ran to the Snake Rocks, I thought I lost it when this snake leaped up on me, ready to strike. And then I woke up."

Cinderpelt sighed. "Well I can see how you many still be disoriented from that." She looked up at the sun, which was only several fox-tails from the horizon. "I'll give you till about sundown to rest. I need to go through my herbs anyway."

Leafpaw bowed her head slightly. "Thank you."

Cinderpelt nodded, turning on her heels to face away from her apprentice and limped steadily back to camp. Leafpaw waited until she could no longer see her mentor before charging into the forest. She sprinted blindly through the trees but stopped when she came to a large, golden oak.

She looked around, searching to see that no cat had followed her. After taking a swift examination, she swallowed, trying to moisten her dry throat. "Squirrelpaw?" She whispered. "Squirrelpaw?"

"I'm here," a voice called from behind her. Leafpaw turned to see her sister emerge from a wave of brown bracken. Twigs were caught in her ginger fur, which was covered in dirt and ticks. Two mice hung in her mouth by their tails. "Here," she said, dropping one of the mice onto the ground. "I got it for you. I figured you wouldn't have eaten anything all day."

She was right. "Thanks," Leafpaw said as he grabbed the mouse between her jaws then laid down on the ground to enjoy it. Her sister settled down opposite her.

After several minutes of near silence as the two enjoyed their meal, Squirrelpaw spoke.

"So, what are we supposed to do?"

Leafpaw swallowed the last bit of her mouse. "We find the cave, of course."

"But there's too much." Squirrelpaw complained. "Neither of us has even seen that cave before, and no one has ever told us about it. It can't be in ThunderClan territory because of those reasons, and it would be too dangerous for two apprentices, one a medicine cat and the other a warrior that is currently suffering through hard mental stages and has not fought for over a moon," at this, Leafpaw shot her sister a glance, but Squirrelpaw shrugged it off; "to search the entire territory of each of the other clans."

Leafpaw shook her head. "No, it cannot be in any of the other Clan's territories. Think about it, WindClan is just a vast expanse of field, and there was a gorge and a waterfall in our dream; none of those things could be possible in WindClan. Both River Clan and ShadowClan can't have those things either."

"Then where do you think it is?"

The small tabby she-cat shook her head. "I do not know, but it can't be here."

Squirrelpaw pierced her eyes. "So you're saying it has to be somewhere else."

The medicine cat's apprentice nodded. "Yes. Tomorrow, I shall go to the MoonStone. I'll ask Sandstorm."

"You can talk to her?" Squirrelpaw asked, amazed.

Leafpaw nodded. "Yes, maybe then she can tell us where that cave is and what she wants us to do there."

"Fine," Squirrelpaw said. "But if that doesn't work, we're asking Firestar."

Leafpaw gasped. "What?" Her voice came out louder than she anticipated. "We can't tell him about this."

"Why not?" Squirrelpaw asked, knowing the answer full well. "He is our father anyway."

"He doesn't like talking about our mother," Leafpaw whispered. "You know that. "

"Yes, but he's also our _father. _We have a right to know about our mother and he is a perfect source to tell us." She snorted hauntingly. "You know he has absolutely no right to say 'no' to us."

Leafpaw opened her mouth so say something, but she was cut off by her sister's mood. And also by her statement. They had a right to know about their mother, and it was Firestar's duty to tell them about her.

Although she wasn't sure he would cooperate.

**Page Break.**

Leafpaw followed her sister cautiously as the pair headed to the ThunderClan camp. She greatly disapproved of Squirrelpaw's plan. Although she loved her father, she felt uncomfortable around him. Like at every second his eyes were burning into her skin, and every second he half expected her to grow a second head. She felt contained around him, like if she didn't act a certain way her father would hate her. Typically, no matter how hard she tried, she incessantly managed to upset him even more.

He always looked at them with pained faces, as though he was watching their deaths but could do nothing to stop it. He avoided their eyes, and his words were stiff and lifeless. She knew it was because of their mother. It would hurt to lose the life of the one you loved and quickly gain the lives of your children. But he wasn't the only one suffering. To grow without a mother is not the easiest thing to do, it is a lonely and tragic world to live in. A world with no escape.

Leafpaw blinked, and found herself only a few steps from her father's den. The lichen surrounding the walls was dense, it was impossible to see nearly anything inside. She did see patches of ginger hair through its slim openings.

"You ready?" Squirrelpaw said, a smile growing on her face.**(A/N: Cats probably can't smile, right? But I feel like there is no other way to describe this moment than to have her smiling.)**

Leafpaw nodded numbly, and her sister's smile widened. "Good," she said. Squirrelpaw motioned towards the lichen, obviously intending for Leafpaw to go in first.

She took a deep breath, and tore through the lichen at a brisk pace. Inside, hardly any light could be seen. And the few that could were filtered in through the lichen, which was moving because of Squirrelpaw's entrance, the cracks in the rocks, and the gleaming shine of Firestar's emerald eyes.

"Ah," he said, his voice dry. "Leafpaw and Squirrelpaw, what are you doing here?"

Squirrelpaw cut right to the chase. "Do you know a place with a huge waterfall, a gorge, a cave of whispers, and a cat named Leafstar?"

Leafpaw saw her father's green orbs widen. "How—how do you know about that?"

"We had a dream," she said smugly.

"We?" He parroted quizzically.

"Yes," I said, my voice sounding new. "It was only last night."

Firestar's eyes pulsed with anger. "I don't want you asking about that," he said, his voice hard. "It's nothing you need to concern yourself with. I don't want to hear any more of it. Now go, leave me alone."

"No!"Squirrelpaw hissed. Leafpaw could not believe her ears. Hearing an apprentice talk to the Clan Leader like that. Talk to her father like that. "Don't you find it odd how we both have the exact same dream at the exact same time? Don't you think it could mean something?"

"I always knew you two had a connection, Cinderpelt said so herself. But this means absolutely nothing."

"Yes it does!" Leafpaw couldn't believe the words were spilling from her mouth, but they poured like blood from a fresh wound. "It's obviously more if you know about it! Then it's not just any weird dream. That means it has to symbolize something."

For once, Firestar was speechless.

"Yes!" Squirrelpaw joined in. "And we saw _you,_ Firestar! And our mother!"

He blinked, and his voice became hoarse. "What? You, you saw Sandstorm?"

"Yes," Leafpaw said. "She led us through this gorge and to a cave. Inside the cave, we heard whispers, but we didn't know what they were saying. Then Sandstorm said, 'You must listen to the whispers, only they can teach you the past. Only they can tell you what you wish to know.' She was guiding us. She wants us to go there."

She saw Firestar's eyes wave side to side. He was shaking his head. "No, no. She couldn't have spoken to you, she's dead."

"I'm a Medicine Cat, we're supposed to have prophetic dreams to help guide our Clans through trouble."

"Yes, and you yourself said that you had dreams with dead cats, dead cats gave you your nine lives. They appeared to you even when you were just a measly apprentice like we are now." Squirrelpaw's voice rang clear and pure, like dropping a stone in a calm pound.

"It's impossible to talk to her!" He yelled.

"How would you know?" Squirrelpaw strikes back.

"Because she's not there!" He said loudly. "Your mother isn't in StarClan. She's lost! You may think that once cats die they go to StarClan, that they will still be here. But Sandstorm isn't the same, she's dead and she's gone."

The impact hit Leafpaw like she had been running at top speed then careened head-first into a tree. "H—how would you know?" She said, her voice wavering.

"Because just two days after she died I went to the Moonstone. I wanted to talk to her, I wanted to be able to say goodbye." He swallowed, and his green eyes began to appear wet. "When I was there, Bluestar, the former leader of ThunderClan, appeared to me. I asked her where Sandstorm was and she looked shocked. She didn't know your mother was dead."

Leafpaw was speechless. This went against everything Cinderpelt had taught her about StarClan. Sandstorm is dead, so she should be there. "Wh—what?"

"The night before you were born I had a dream," he said. "It was about a clan called SkyClan. Shortly before the two of you were born your mother and I went on a journey to help this sixth clan. It was kicked off its territory when the Twolegs came. Their leader was named Leafstar, the deputy Sharpclaw and the Medicine Cat Echosong. They had been terrorized by rats, but we saved them. In my dream, the rats returned and one of them, who claimed to be the new leader, took one of Leafstar's lives.

"After that, I saw your mother's eyes, and I heard her scream. Then, I was at the nursery. Everything was fine, and the two of you were snuggled up close to your mother. I blinked, and the nursery was split by a river of blood. Sandstorm was the source of the river, and the two of you were caught in it." He sighed. "It scared me so much…"

Leafpaw heard her sister storm out of the den, and after a few awe-struck second Leafpaw followed her. The sudden light from the sun scorched her eyes, and she looked around blindly to see her sister heading back into the forest. Leafpaw followed her as best she could.

"Squirrelpaw?" She called. "Squirrelpaw, running isn't going to help. We need to talk about this."

"I don't understand what there is to talk about." Squirrelpaw stopped, but refused to turn to face her sister. Her voice was hurt and raucous. "What Firestar did makes no different to what we're going to do. We're going to follow our dream for her. Maybe we'll find her… or maybe Firestar is lying to us."

Leafpaw's jaw opened "What? But why would he lie to us?"

"I don't know, but don't you think he would have told us this before?" A long silence consumed the two cats, and it was soon broken by Squirrelpaw's sigh. "You'll still go to the Moonstone and ask for her, right?"

"Of course," Leafpaw responded. "I am just as curious as you are…and I won't settle for our father's answer."

Squirrelpaw's voice revealed the smile growing on her lips. "Good, we'll figure out where Sandstorm wants us to go, and then we'll leave. I'm tired of the lies, I'm tired of being in the dark. I want to be able to find her, I'm tired of not knowing anything about our mother."

**Page Break.**

The sun was setting peacefully in the sky, casting a warm, orange glow over the ThunderClan camp. The two medicine cats, Cinderpelt and Leafpaw, exited their den. They had already eaten their bitter herbs and were ready to journey to the Moonstone. Leafpaw's heart pounded against her ribs. She had gone to the Moonstone before, this was either her third or fourth time, but still the anxiety felt like a large tree that had fallen on her tail.

A tree like the large golden oak. That she knew her sister was curled next to, probably speaking nonsense to cats that aren't there.

She was worried about her sister; her and the rest of the Clan. She runs off into the woods randomly, and she screams and talks during her sleep. Her fur is dirty and covered in twigs, burrs, fleas and ticks. When she is not wearing a deep frown, she is smiling happily, and laughs hysterically. Every rib is perfectly seeable, all the lines hard and definite through her skin and fur.

Often times, the cats will try to calm her, even those not close to her. Once, even Mousefur tried. But still it ended hopelessly. Cinderpelt constantly gave her poppy seeds and another herbs to try and calm her, and she once climbed a tree to try and get some honey for her. But she simply refused with a twinkle in her eye.

"Are you ready, Leafpaw?" Cinderpelt asked her apprentice.

Leafpaw nodded numbly, and Cinderpelt began to lead the way to Fourtrees. Leafpaw's mind was in a daze the entire way, and when she tripped over a branch, Cinderpelt asked her what was wrong.

"I'm just worried about Squirrelpaw." She said honestly, although other things were burdening her.

"Aren't we all?" Cinderpelt said back. "Do you have any idea what might be upsetting your sister?"

Leafpaw shook her head. "No—not at all. I don't think I've ever seen her so down before in my entire life."

Cinderpelt changed the subject. "Yesterday, the two of you went to Firestar." She began. "Might I ask why?"

Leafpaw allowed the truth to flow from her, or at least half of it. "We wanted to know about our mother."

Her mentor sighed knowingly. "Please don't judge your father on that," she said. "Sandstorm's death really hurt him—it would hurt anyone. I cannot speak on his behalf on most matters, but I know he really loves you, and that he would give up his life for you and your sister."

"But he's never told us anything!" Leafpaw found herself snapping back. "All we know is that her name is Sandstorm and she died having my sister and I."

Silence cloaked the two, leaving the only sounds the scurrying of prey and the sound of their feet touching the ground. "She was a light ginger," she began, looking into her apprentice's eyes. "And she had very light tabby marks. Her eyes were a piercing pale green. She had a sharp tongue and constantly bit at your father and other cats. She was such an amazing hunter, one of the best in the Clan. She was extremely jealous of Firestar and Graystripe, who, despite being younger, became warriors before she and Duspelt did.

"She was very smart and she worked hard to make things peaceful. Your father and mother were already mates by the time Firestar was made leader. Only a few moons after the battle with BloodClan, your father and mother left to do and important mission."

Leafpaw cut her off. "Yes, SkyClan."

Cinderpelt stopped in her tracks, and turned to face her apprentice. "How did you know?"

"Firestar told me," she said hurriedly, hoping to get back to Cinderpelt's story.

"Well, the two left for SkyClan. There, they reformed SkyClan and saved them from the rats that were terrorizing them. When Sandstorm returned she was already pregnant, and she was perfectly fine, perfectly normal. There was nothing wrong with her during her moons of pregnancy, she never did anything unsafe. On the day you were born, in the morning, Firestar ran in, saying he had a dream. He looked around, his eyes as scared as a rabbit knowing it is to be pounced upon. A short while after sundown, Sandstorm entered labor." She paused, licking her lips.

"You were born first, and you were born just like any other kit. After you were born, Sandstorm said she was tired. My mentor, Yellowfang, had told me that most queens feel that way, so I just told her to keep going. Squirrelpaw was a lot harder on her, and during the birth she said Firestar's name over and over again. When she was born, Sandstorm fell unconscious. I tried to wake her, but she wouldn't come to until your father came."

She sighed. "Sandstorm couldn't look down, and her breathing was very heavy. She asked Firestar to describe the two of you to her. Firestar obliged, and then asked why she needed to ask how they looked when she could just look at you herself. She said it was because she needed to pick names for you, you were named 'leaf' because of Spottedleaf, who was the medicine cat before Yellowfang and apparently a cat called Leafstar, but I don't know she is; and then Squirrelpaw because of her tail. And then she said she needed to go. She said Spottedleaf told her that she needed to go to StarClan."

Cinderpelt stopped talking, and Leafpaw almost urged her to go on. She felt the gears sprint in her mind. She recalled her father saying that a cat named Leafstar became the leader of SkyClan. Now, she knew what to do. Even if her mother wasn't present in StarClan, she would ask Spottedleaf to tell her the truth. All of it.

**Page Break.**

Cinderpelt and Leafpaw met up with the other Medicine cats at Fourtrees and had just crossed the Thunderpath. There were no monsters on it, but Leafpaw's heart still pounded as she raced over its smooth, hard surface. She felt herself get more and more anxious as she wove her way through the tenebrous halls, feeling the cool air blow against her fur.

The sudden glowing light from the Moonstone filled her senses, she turned to Cinderpelt, who's fur had turned a ghastly silver and eyes turned the distant color of the stars. Cinderpelt nodded, and the two settled onto the ground. Leafpaw took a deep breath, then slowly brought her nose up and touched its cold surface.

Leafpaw opened her eyes to find herself in a field, with moonlight casting over the long, untamed grasses. A cat appeared before her, and Leafpaw gasped.

"Spottedleaf," she breathed. She wasn't aware how loudly she had spoken until Spottedleaf nodded.

"Yes, child **(A/N: I always like it in those movies when they have the dead or wise call the main character child, so I just had to do it here…)**." She said back. "I have been waiting for you."

"My—my mother…" Leafpaw paused, searching for words.

"That is exactly why I have come here to speak with you." Spottedleaf said. "I knew that your father's words could not quench your thirst for knowledge, and you are worried about your sister. You, and StarClan, fear for her life."

Leafpaw nodded numbly.

"Do not worry about her," Spottedleaf tried to comfort her. "She will heal, and this may bring it about."

"Cinderpelt told me that at Sandstorm's death she said you called for her." Leafpaw stated. "Why? And how come Bluestar didn't know she had died?"

"You know about SkyClan, don't you?" Leafpaw nodded. "When Sandstorm was with SkyClan, she taught the Medicine cat, Echosong, about SkyClan and herbs and all that a Medicine cat needs to know to properly serve her Clan. I have been watching over them for many moons, because they are like my kin. My ancestors were SkyClan, and I wanted to help them. When I saw the destruction that SkyClan was facing, I needed your mother to help me."

Once Spottedleaf's words hit Leafpaw's ears, she began to fade. "I cannot tell you anymore," she responded. "The rest you must figure out yourselves."

"What?" Leafpaw yowled angrily. "How? How?"

"You need to follow the dream your mother sent you. You need to save SkyClan."

**Page Break.**

Iceclaw14: *plays Lost theme-song* Do-do-do-do….. Ahem. Sorry if that was short, but I felt it of good length. Surprisingly, I got a whole lot done in that chapter. If I kept with my fluff routine, it probably would have taken me three chappies to get to that point. I went back and fixed a bunch of the spelling errors in Chapter 2, and I'll probably go back and fix some of the other chapters as well. I like how Squirrelpaw kinda went insane, that part I hadn't planned on making happen, it just kinda came to me like a little puppy with a hurt paw. You just can't so no. Please review, they make me write a whole lot faster! Bye!


	7. The Beginning

Iceclaw14: Hello people! Sorry about the long wait, for the entire month of November I was doing a contest: NaNoWriMo, which a challenge to write a fifty-thousand word novel. I won! Yea! So here I am now, writing _My Guardian_. Let's get going, shall we? Disclaimer: I own nothing…blah…. Let's get this show on the road!

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Squirrelpaw smiled as she sunk her teeth into the neck of a rabbit. It gave a weak squeal of protest before it stilled and became limp in her mouth. The ginger apprentice laughed, thrilled by her defeat of the creature.

She wound her way back to ThunderClan camp: which she normally only came to at night to sleep. She was too anxious to wander around this forest any longer, waiting for Leafpaw to return. At least at the camp she could find some way to entertain herself.

Graystripe shot her a concerned look as she entered the camp. She gazed at him blissfully, but his eyes did not leave her back. It was an odd feeling, knowing she was being watched. She shrugged it off and continued on her way to the fresh-kill pile. She dropped the rabbit at the foot of the pile, and when she raised her head, her mentor, Dustpelt, was staring down at her with piercing eyes.

"Oh, hello Dustpelt," she greeted him.

He narrowed his eyes. "What are you doing?"

"I was just out hunting," she responded.

"If you are well enough to hunt," he scoffed. "You must be well enough to resume training."

She nodded. "Yes! Can we start now?"

He shook his head. "No, you are a mess. I would tell you to go to Cinderpelt and have her remove your ticks, but because she is at the Moonstone with her sister, I must ask you to remain in the apprentice's den until she returns."

Squirrelpaw nodded. "Of course." She turned around and entered the apprentice's den.

The moment she slid into her bed of moss, Whitepaw appeared over her.

"Wow, Whitepaw; it seems like I have not talked to you in forever."

"That's because you haven't," the white she-cat replied sternly.

Squirrelpaw laughed. "I suppose, I have been so busy."

"Busy with what?"She questioned skeptically. "You have not trained with Dustpelt for several days now, what are you doing when you wander out in the forest and do not return until night fall?"

"Oh you know this and that."

"No, I don't know."

Squirrelpaw softened her voice in mock disappointment. "Oh, really? It is too much to explain, though. But rest assured I am staying within ThunderClan territory."

"It's not the borders I'm concerned about."

She cocked her head slightly. "Then what are you considered about, if not my rule-breaking?"

"You are alone in that forest for the entire day!" Whitepaw yowled. "All alone! It's not good for you to be alone."

Squirrelpaw grunted. "So are you suggesting that I would do something stupid if I am left alone?"

"No. You just suffered something traumatic, and your driving yourself…yourself….," she had a word in mind, but she did not speak it.

"Say it, say it!" Squirrelpaw shouted.

"Insane!" Whitepaw screeched madly. "You are driving yourself insane!"

"Oh, so now I'm insane?"

"Yes, you are!"

"It doesn't matter what you think of me," she hissed. "Leafpaw and I will be gone before you know it."

"What? You are leaving the Clans?"

"What's it to you? It's not like anyone here even cares about me."

Whitepaw's gaze softened. "No, Squirrelpaw, that's not—"

"True? Is that what you were going to say? Because it is! My father doesn't care about me, and Brambleclaw is probably off plotting Firestar's murder with Sorrelpaw."

"No, no Squirrelpaw. Brambleclaw would never do that. He cares about you so much."

"I can't take it any longer!" She screamed. "I'm sick of being undermined. Everyone says "No, Squirrelpaw, you're wrong," like I'm some kit. I'm not! I can take care of myself and I am intelligent enough to understand what's going on."

Whitepaw shook her head. "No, you do not understand a thing about what's going on."

"Then explain it to me. Explain why my father and everyone else in this camp are _lying _to me."

Whitepaw's mouth open and closed, but no sound emerged. Squirrelpaw snorted. "You are just as clueless as me, are you?" She shook her head. "No, you are worse. You do not realize the level of resent everyone feels towards me. My own farther hates me."

The white apprentice shook her head, but she said nothing, instead storming out of the den.

Squirrelpaw sighed. "They don't matter," she breathed. "Soon enough you shall be away from all of them…you shall never have to think of their _lies _again."

Not once did she close her eyes, they remained focused on the center of the camp. When cats passed by, either to make dirt or to take up guard duty, Squirrelpaw saw them squirm beneath her crystal gaze. She was aware her eyes were as bright as stars, and all the cats could see them.

She shifted on her bed of moss. Leafpaw and Cinderpelt should be back now. It was black as pitch outside, and nearly all the cats inside ThunderClan were sleeping. Whitepaw's shallow breaths and she slept kept Squirrelpaw calm, but they did not relieve her of all worry.

Eventually, she did enter the engrossing world of slumber, but almost immediately she aroused herself. Ever since her dream about Sandstorm leading her to the cave, her dreams were nightmares. Sometimes, it was a replay of the chase that seemed so long ago, but eventually she was cornered, and the dark cats' turned into her father, her mother and Brambleclaw. There was no golden cat to save her; and just before one of them raked their claws on her neck, she would awaken. The other dream was that creatures that looked like mice, but were three times bigger invaded the camp, killing everyone around her. But they avoided her completely, like she was poisoned. Her teeth and claws could not penetrate their skin, and she would watch, in horror, as Clanmate after Clanmate was killed by the creatures.

She dozed off several times, but each time she was haunted by the dreams and woke on the verge of screaming.

_No more sleeping_, she commanded herself. She trained her eyes on the fresh-kill pile before her and began to plot her journey with Leafpaw.

Squirrelpaw's sister would definitely gain information from StarClan: A hint as to where the elusive SkyClan might be hiding. They would set off as quickly as possible and never look back. This Clan of liars was poisoning them. They were far beyond these dirty, disgusting cats.

Something crossed the pile, causing a cat-shaped shadow. Squirrelpaw was not frightened in the slightest, but instead felt curiosity grow inside of her. She rose from her bed of moss as loudly as possible, and slunk out of the den.

Because of the darkness, she could not make out the cat's shape, but she confirmed it was definitely a warrior.

The warrior did not take the entrance route, where Graystripe was sitting straight and tall, eying the entrance with as much focus as a cat trying to cross the Thunderpath. The warrior turned just past the Firestar's den and headed off through the bracken and into the woods.

The warrior was making a large amount of ruckus, causing Squirrelpaw to wonder if it was trying to be caught. But, if it was, wouldn't it take an escape nearer Graystripe's post instead of sneaking just before Firestar's den, where the dim light of the moon cast a perfect shadow.

No, the cat was trying to maneuver through the forest as silently as possible, but was failing miserably.

Squirrelpaw hoped that the cat would take a path near the golden oak tree, or at least come close enough to it to allow her a quick glance at it. She counted her steps until she knew she had passed the tree, and her urge to remain unnoticed by the cat she was following concluded abruptly. She meandered directly onto a large, rotting branch, and it cracked loudly.

The cat turned, and the ginger she-cat caught a glance of amber eyes. Almost immediately the gaze softened, quelling its fiery enragement to a dull anger.

"Squirrelpaw," Brambleclaw whispered. "What are you doing here?" His voice hardened. "I thought your father told you to stay away from me."

"I can do whatever I wish," she hissed in return. "And I do not listen to everything my father tells me."

"Oh, really? So why don't you explain your actions after your apprentice ceremony, when your father convinced you I, like my father, was plotting to kill him and control all of the clans?"

"I don't listen to him anymore."

He grunted. "Anyway, what are you doing here anyway? Shouldn't you be asleep, or plotting your escape from ThunderClan?"

"What?" She croaked. "How did you find out?"

"You basically screamed it to the entire camp earlier."

Her eyes narrowed. "Why do you care?"

His mouth opened and closed repeatedly, and he grunted repeatedly before he managed to form words. "Um—ThunderClan does care about you, Squirrelpaw."

"ThunderClan doesn't matter."

Again, he looked like he was going to say something, but no sounds emerged.

"Now, where are you going?" Squirrelpaw questioned.

"Why does it matter? Go back to camp."

"Oh, you mean go back to camp and tell Firestar that you're out sneaking in the woods, hm?"

"Go." He growled.

"Thanks for the offer, but I do believe I'd rather follow you."

His eyes narrowed, becoming slivers of light in the dark forest. "Fine, but please try to stay silent."

"Oh, you mean as silent as you were?"

He turned and continued on his way, Squirrelpaw snickering behind him, just low enough for her laughter to be hidden by the sudden of Brambleclaw's paws shuffling through the dead leaves on the ground.

They continued on through the tenebrous forest, and after a few short minutes the path opened up.

Squirrelpaw's eyes widened. The ground before her was trampled, only a few blades of dead grass penetrated the ground. Four oaks surrounded the trodden ground, towering up to the moon. A large gray rock was just before Squirrelpaw, over ten fox-tails high.

Squirrelpaw's eyes shifted from the trees to the rock to the trodden floor repeatedly, as though she would never be able to soak in all of her surroundings.

Brambleclaw advanced to the center of the circle. He looked back to see Squirrelpaw standing still at the entrance.

"What?" He asked. "Have you never seen the Fourtrees?"

Squirrelpaw shook her head, facing him. "Dustpelt never got the opportunity to show it to me, and I have never gone to a Gathering." **(A/N: Right? She hasn't gone to the Fourtrees yet in this story…I can't really remember. If I have, please tell me in a review so I can fix this part.)**

Brambleclaw nodded. "Ah, yes, you are correct. It slipped from my mind."

She advanced towards him. "No, it's not your fault."

A sudden rustling in the woods in front of her caused her fur to stand on end.

A dark tortoiseshell she-cat emerged. Squirrelpaw raised her haunches, gritting her teeth. Out of the corner of her eyes she saw Brambleclaw. He was perfectly relaxed, and his eyes were glowing.

He advanced to the she-cat, and they touched noses. Squirrelpaw relaxed, but she continued to glare at the she-cat.

"Who is this?" The she-cat questioned, nodding her head in my direction.

"Oh, this is Squirrelpaw," Brambleclaw introduced her. "Squirrelpaw, this is my sister, Tawnypelt."

Tawnypelt nodded again. "Ah, so this is Firestar's daughter. I've heard so much about you in the past Gatherings, I am relieved to see that you are well." He turned back to her brother. "But why have you brought her with you?"

"She found me on my way here, and she insisted on following me. It was either having her come along or her rat me out to Firestar."

"Yes, that would be bad. His trust for you would certainly diminish even further."

Squirrelpaw stared at Brambleclaw's back, hoping he would be able to sense her gaze. When he did not, Tawnypelt spoke.

"Brambleclaw," she said. "I believe Squirrelpaw wants to talk to you."

Brambleclaw turned to Squirrelpaw, and Tawnypelt took several considerate steps backward to keep her from hearing their conversation.

"Yes?" the tabby warrior asked.

"Is Tawnypelt really your sister?"

He nodded. "Yes, she chose to live in ShadowClan after the mess with BloodClan before you were born. She's a warrior."

More brambles scratched, and the two ThunderClan cats turned their heads to see two cats emerge. Squirrelpaw immediately identified them as Stormfur and Feathertail, Graystripe's RiverClan kits whom she had met on her first day of apprenticeship.

Brambleclaw lightly touched his tail on her flank, urging her forward. She proceeded towards the siblings, who were speaking with Tawnypelt.

Their conversation ceased when Squirrelpaw came into view. Feathertail's eyes widened.

"Squirrelpaw," she said, surprised. "I have not seen you for so long. I was so worried when Firestar made the announcement of your apprenticeship, but you were not here. I felt my heart stop when he told us that you were injured and your teaching postponed. I have been praying to StarClan every night for your health."

Squirrelpaw nodded, awkwardness growing inside of her. "Oh, um thank you."

Stormfur nodded numbly in her direction.

"Why has Stormfur come with you?" Brambleclaw asked.

"I could not keep the dream from him," she responded. "He swore he'd come to protect me."

Another rustling in the bushes, and a small black tom emerged. His blue eyes searched the Fourtrees warily. He stepped cautiously towards us.

"Oh, hello Crowpaw," Tawnypelt greeted him.

He questioned my presence and Stormfur's and when his questioned were answered they all began to discuss a dream. I decided it best not to question anything, instead gathering the clues and pulling the picture together.

The five of them were going to leave the Clans.

* * *

On their way back to ThunderClan camp, Squirrelpaw demanded all the details from Brambleclaw. He fulfilled her request with minimal reluctance.

"So, you really are leaving, aren't you?"

He shrugged. "I suppose, but we are not abandoning the Clans, like what you are planning to do with Leafpaw." His tone was not mocking, but understanding. "We are simply traveling to find a place for us to stay, for when the Twolegs invade our territory."

"Right," Squirrelpaw responded, scarcely hearing the tom's voice. She was counting her steps.

After a short while, she stopped. Brambleclaw noticed her cease in motion almost immediately, and turned back to look at her.

"What is it?"

"Follow me," she said, motioning her tail in the denser section of the woods, away from ThunderClan Camp. "I want to take you to my favorite place."

He sighed, but she could sense the light tone. "Alright, but we should hurry before the dawn patrol comes."

She laughed and began weave slowly through the forest, walking very sluggishly to allow Brambleclaw time to squish his broad shoulders through large, thorny bracken. When he emerged, he was grumbling to himself angrily. Squirrelpaw laughed, and Brambleclaw opened his mouth to hiss something at her when he noticed the large tree behind her.

"Wow…," he whispered, stepping closer to the golden oak.

"I know," Squirrelpaw responded. "I stumbled upon this place a while ago, and I've been as attracted to it as a bee it to honey, or Dustpelt to Ferncloud."

Bramblelclaw chuckled. His eyes were scanning the tree up and down. "It is beautiful," he turned to her. "But why is this your favorite place?"

Squirrelpaw laughed, and poured her heart out to Brambleclaw, allowing all her secrets and feelings to ride the wind that was ruffling their fur. He listened intently, never once interrupting, only nodding occasionally, at the perfect times. She told him everything, all the way back to when she first discovered the tree to when she was chased by the black creatures and the dream she shared with Leafpaw. All leading up to her encounter with Brambleclaw in the woods.

When she finished, he nodded knowingly. "I can see why that could have forced you into the state of depression you were in earlier."

She turned around, her skin heating. "You don't understand."

"No," he responded, causing her to turn around. "I do. I was just as curious as you are: curious about my father. I did not know about his relationship with ThunderClan or with his plot for the Clans until later, and I sincerely doubted everything. I wanted to be closer to him, far closer. I even ran away to be with him once."

"What?" She asked, astonished.

He laughed. "Yes, it's true. I didn't get very far, because just before the camp, I heard him speaking to the Clan. He was revealing his plans for the Clans, and his alliance with BloodClan. That was proof that what Firestar and the rest of ThunderClan had said was true, but I am still curious." Brambleclaw shuffled his paws on the ground. "I sometimes wish I knew him better, before any of the BloodClan ruckus arose."

Squirrelpaw nodded, laughing quietly. "I guess I was being selfish, wasn't I?"

"Hm? How were you being selfish?"

"I am not the only cat to grow up without a parent," she said. "You and Tawnypelt didn't have your father, and Stormfur and Feathertail's mother died giving birth to them as well. I haven't even been worrying about my own sister during this time."

Brambleclaw shrugged. "Don't worry about it: selfishness comes naturally to us all. Realizing your selfishness and working to mend it is was what makes you strong."

She laughed. "That's a stupid saying."

"Well, you can plug in any words you want, selfishness, haughtiness, ignorance."

They broke out into uncontrollable laughter. Squirrelpaw's sides hurt after only a few seconds, for she had not laughed so hard in very long.

* * *

They spent the entire night chattering about useless things, relationships within the Clan, issues plaguing the other Clans, and Squirrelpaw's apprenticeship. She vowed to Brambleclaw that she would have her ticks removed by Cinderpelt and resume her training in the morning.

The sun was beginning to rise, and the two were on their way around the camp to the place where dung as made, as to slink into camp without someone wondering what was going on. The rising sun and its beautiful colors stunt Squirrelpaw's eyes momentarily, but she smiled giddily. She was as happy as a mouse at the beginning of New Leaf.

She looked ahead of her at Brambleclaw's back. His fur looked lighter in the light, and she watched his shoulder blades bob up and down with each step he took. His tail tickled her nose occasionally.

She swallowed, gathering her strength. "Brambleclaw?"

He did not stop, nor did her turn to look at her. "Yes?"

"I—er—I am going with you," she announced weakly.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm going to this new place with you, Tawnypelt, Crowpaw, Feathertail and Stormfur."

He stopped, turning his head to look back at her. "Squirrelpaw, it's dangerous."

The ginger apprentice shook her head. "I don't care."

"What about your plan with Leafpaw?" He asked, questioning her every move.

"I do not have to leave," she said. "The two of us don't have to go at all. We are perfectly aware that the two of us have a connection; it could simply be that one of us was having the dream, and the other, using the connection, shared the dream with the first. It does not have to mean anything specific."

His amber eyes narrowed, darkening. "Are you certain?"

She nodded. "Yes, I am coming with you; whether by force or if you invite me."

"Alright," he said, turning back around and continuing on toward camp. The apprentice smiled and leaped forward to catch up with him.

* * *

Squirrelpaw took a deep breath before she passed through the lichen blanketing the entrance to the medicine cat's den. Cinderpelt was rolling up small, blue berries in leaves. She turned toward Squirrelpaw and nodded slightly before returning to her work. Leafpaw was sitting by her, watching her mentor fold the leaves with expert care. She did not acknowledge her sister.

It was only when Cinderpelt nosed the leaves toward Leafpaw did any of them move. Leafpaw picked up the leaves and turned around to see Squirrelpaw. Her eyes lit up. She nodded at her in a way of saying "I'll be back in a moment" before skipping cheerily out of the den.

Cinderpelt twisted to face her. "Ah, Squirrelpaw," she greeted. "What have you come here for?"

Anger boiled inside the apprentice, but she calmed herself down. The medicine cat had questioned Squirrelpaw incessantly on the state of her fur for the beginning to her rest. Majority of the time Squirrelpaw ignored the gray she-cat, the other times yowling sourly at her. Cinderpelt had ceased her questionings only a few sun-rises ago.

"I've come to get these ticks removed," she said breathlessly.

The medicine cat nodded. "Good, good, allow me a moment to gather some mouse bile, would you?"

Squirrelpaw nodded. Cinderpelt turned and limped slowly to the cubicles in the wall, rummaging through the countless remedies.

"Ah, here," Cinderpelt turned back around, a stick in her mouth with some odd substance at the end. It smelled so horrible and strong that she was amazed the cats in StarClan were not coughing, and that Cinderpelt was not vomiting on the spot. Squirrelpaw would not blame her if she did.

She teetered to Squirrelpaw, looking akin to a kit not used to the concept of walking yet. With the stick, she prodded at the ticks on Squirrelpaw's body. They fell off instantaneously. Soon enough, her skin was free of the blood-sucking mongrels.

When she finished, Leafpaw entered the den.

"Ah, Leafpaw," Cinderpelt said. "You wouldn't mind cleaning your sister's fur, would you? I must run down to the river **(A/N:…By this I am referring to the ThunderClan-RiverClan border, that is the only body of water in ThunderClan territory, right?) **and wash my paws."

Leafpaw nodded. Cinderpelt stepped out of the den. When her mentor was gone, Leafpaw began to laugh.

Squirrelpaw's eyes widened. "What's so funny?"

"Only the fact that you are here," she responded. "Though I cannot say I'm not glad you finally came to see us; you're fur was so riddled with ticks that if another day had passed you probably would have died from blood-loss."

Squirrelpaw's blood turned to ice. "I—is that true?"

Leafpaw shook her head, her body shaking from laughter. "No, I am simply joking." She stepped forward and began to comb Squirrelpaw's fur with her claws.

Leafpaw was trying to control her happiness, which caused Squirrelpaw to feel joy rise in her. Her sister is happy, and so is she. But there is still something plaguing her.

She would have to tell Leafpaw of her plans to abandon their journey to the mysterious SkyClan and instead leave with Brambleclaw and the others to, in his own words, "save the Clans."

"So," Leafpaw began, unaware of the sudden discomfort that pounced upon her sister. "I spoke to Spottedleaf yesterday."

Squirrelpaw's ears perked. "What happened?" She asked. The words were acid in her mouth.

"She told me everything we already knew, basically; except that it was up to us to save SkyClan."

'_Oh great_," Squirrelpaw thought. She opened her mouth to explain the situation to the medicine cat apprentice, but she continued.

"I was thinking we should leave as soon as possible," she said as the pulled a hitchhiker from Squirrelpaw's fur. "Leafbare is coming far too quickly and we cannot leave during that cold season. Not today, nor tomorrow, but maybe in two or three sunrises." She ran her claws along Squirrelpaw's back. "What do you think?"

Squirrelpaw sighed. "Leafpaw, I don't know how to tell you this…,"

She was cut off. "You should not be afraid of what you have to say," Leafpaw said. "We are both going through the same thing, and helping each other along is obviously the better route to take."

"But that's the problem, Leafpaw."

"How so?"

She shook her head. "Is it possible it's all just in our heads?"

Leafpaw blinked. "What are you talking about?"

"The dream: isn't it possible that one of us was dreaming that and, through our mental connection, the other also received the dream?"

Leafpaw removed her hands from her sister's body and took a step back. "What do you mean?"

"What if we're just overdramatizing this?" Squirrelpaw asked her sister. "It might not be some sign from StarClan; just a dream."

Leafpaw shook her head. "No! What's wrong with you? Just a few days ago you were obsessed with this plan."

"So you liked me better when I was insane?" Squirrelpaw hissed.

"No!" She repeated furiously. "It's just that…I thought we were going to do this together."

Squirrelpaw's jaw opened. "What? You're going to go without me?"

"Of course!" She yowled passionately. "I am not going to give up on this as easily as you—no, I won't give up at all." She turned around at sat at the mouth of the cave. "I would rather die than give up on this."

"Tell me why you think this is real," Squirrelpaw demanded. "Tell me why you are persistent with this."

"Explain to me the beasts—the shadow cats that chased you and the voice that you heard that warned you about the Thunderpath. All the dreams! I chased an ancient tom through the forest, which ran faster than the monsters on the Thunderpath. Explain that to me!"

Squirrelpaw's mouth opened repeatedly, but no sounds emerged.

Leafpaw turned her head towards the door of the den. The sunlight that slipped in through the lichen revealed the curiosity in her amber eyes, which were usually calm pools of patience. After a few minutes, Leafpaw bobbed her head, motioning for her sister to leave the den.

Squirrelpaw spun around and passed through the lichen. Just outside the den Leafpaw stopped her with her voice.

"I'm leaving tomorrow night. Make sure you keep Firestar and Cinderpelt calm when I'm gone."

* * *

After speaking to a disgruntled Brambleclaw, Squirrelpaw discovered that the two parties—one of the five cats, plus her, to the future home of the Clans; the second Leafpaw and the wind. Brambleclaw's troupe met during the night, when Squirrelpaw was shifting in her bed of moss, and, because of incidents with Twolegs, are leaving early. She skipped out on telling Brambleclaw about her sister's situation, the warrior probably believed that they had settled the situation; if he cared at all.

The next night came quickly, far quicker than Squirrelpaw wanted. She was trying to catch just a wink of sleep when Brambleclaw rapped on the apprentice's den. Squirrelpaw opened her eyes and Brambleclaw's amber eyes blinked at her, beacons in the night. She rose from the nest, nodded at him and the two departed into the forest.

Only Tawnypelt was absent. The night was cold, their furs shifting in the wind. Squirrelpaw shivered as she and Brambleclaw walked over to where Stormfur, Feathertail and Crowpaw were huddled together. Crowpaw was not as phased form the wind as us, but he was still uncomfortable.

The moon reflected off Stormfur's eyes. "What is taking her so long?"

Brambleclaw shrugged, but Squirrelpaw could see his fur prickle. "She might have encountered someone on her way out of the camp and had to get rid of them."

"Let's just leave," Crowpaw snarled.

"No," Brambleclaw shook his head. "It's either all of us or none of us; we'll wait."

And thus, we waited.

A sound in the bushes from the ThunderClan sighed caused us all to jump, and the warriors among us to immediately crouched into a fighting position. Brambleclaw hissed and Stormfur growled, but Feathertail was silent.

Leafpaw emerged from the trees. Her eyes were wide, and they traveled through the Fourtrees. They scanned over us for a split second, and then swerved back to me. They hung on me, and immediately hardened.

"What are you doing here?" She snarled before she coughed mockingly. "Don't tell me you've abandoned our mother's mission for _his_," at the final word, she motioned her head to Brambleclaw.

"What are you doing?" Squirrelpaw felt stupidity rush into her as she parroted her sister's words.

"Where do you think? I'm going to SkyClan of course! I'm not going to abandon Sandstorm like you are now."

Brambleclaw leaned closer to my head and whispered into my ear, "Squirrelpaw, what is going on? What is SkyClan?"

He obviously spoke louder than he had intended, for Leafpaw heard as well. "Oh so you haven't told him? You haven't told him all our secrets?"

"Leafpaw, I—"

"No!" She yowled. "I don't want to listen to you anymore! You're self-destructive; you're filled with angst and hatred at the entire world."

"What in the name of StarClan is going on?" Crowpaw questioned loudly.

"Why don't you ask Squirrelpaw, you should get everything out of her before she bails on you as well?"

A force to her back caused Squirrelpaw to spring forward, nearer her sister. She turned behind her to see Brambleclaw staring at her with frightened eyes.

"Brambleclaw…," she whispered.

He took a step forward. "Whatever you're doing, it seems to be just as important as our mission," he began, "if not more. Leafpaw cannot do this on her own, she needs you."

"But—" she began, but the warrior shook his head.

"Go," he commanded her. His eyes softened until they were brimmed with happiness. "Have fun."

She laughed before she turned to her sister. "Leafpaw, I—"

The medicine-cat apprentice shook her head. She looked up at Squirrelpaw with amber eyes that appeared brighter than the moon. "Are you coming or not?"

Iceclaw14: Ah…how adorable. That's kinda like how my sister and I are, one moment were in this huge fight, and I'll try to apologize to her but before I can get the words out of my mouth she asks me something completely irrelevant, like it never happened. Yes…sisters, they are weird beasties. This chapter didn't take me long to write, but I procrastinated a lot. I watched a lot of YouTube: charlieissocoollike, nerimon, hayleyghoover, and the wrock band "The Remus Lupins." So yeah I've kept myself busy. And I did NaNoWriMo this November, I won! YAY! I don't want to explain NaNoWriMo to you guys, because I want to get this chapter up, but please try doing it next year. It is really inspirational and a whole lot to fun, and you can add me as your buddy, YAY! Which will give me one…XD. Well, I'll see you guys later! BIAZ!


	8. The Grand Scheme

Iceclaw14: Hello people, sorry for the long interlude, so I'm not gonna talk much and just let you get on with the story! Disclaimer: I own nothing other than an overwhelming need of Vic Mignogna plushie.

Journeying was hard on Leafpaw, as was it on Squirrelpaw from the neglect she had been giving herself a few days prior, before the sisters began their journey to the missing SkyClan with hopes of discovering what happened to their mother.

It felt as though StarClan were against the two; each day it rained enough to soak their fur, chilling the two to the bone; they were lucky if they found three or four mice to eat each day; and the beds they fashioned of moss were moist. They could never find a dry sanctuary to rest in and Squirrelpaw was coming down with a cold.

_StarClan,_ Leafpaw prayed, _please help us find SkyClan before we die of starvation or lack of sleep_.

Squirrelpaw, however, was optimistic, quite unlike her usual sharp-tongued self. With every day they traveled—no, every step they took—her confidence tripled and she felt closer and closer to the dreams her mother had been sending her.

The two were traveling through a dense forest, Squirrelpaw imagining what SkyClan would be like, while Leafpaw intently listened to sounds in the undergrowth of rodents that could quell the growling in her stomach, when the sound of a falling branch sent the two several inches into the air.

Squirrelpaw spun around in the direction of the crack. "What was that?" She whispered to Leafpaw.

"How should I know?" the tabby shot back angrily, her nerves tight from lack of food and sleep and the sudden feeling that something could be following them.

Leafpaw's remark shut her sister's mouth, and for some minutes the two listened for any other sound, but heard nothing save from the wind whistling in the trees overhead.

"Let's keep going," Leafpaw said in a voice of average loudness. "Whatever it was it's gone now, and we had best make as much progress as we can while it's not raining."

Squirrelpaw nodded, but did not seem to settle in the slightest, the hair along her spine still standing straight. The ginger she-cat turned, and Leafpaw followed her as they traveled deeper into the dense forest.

Leafpaw's mind would not rest; her heart would not slow its terrified tattoo. She could not help but be afraid of the sounds she had heard, while Squirrelpaw was obviously more anxious to discover the source of the sound. Leafpaw sighed to herself; this was going to be a long journey.

Another crash penetrated Leafpaw's thoughts, and she and her sister leaped into the air from shock. They heard the sound of hissing close by. Too close.

"Run!" Squirrelpaw shouted, darting off, the medicine cat apprentice at her heels. Something else at hers. She heard its ragged breathing, and the mud splashing at her heels that it was close.

"Something's behind us!" Leafpaw shouted to her sister. "I don't know what, but keep running!"

"What?" Squirrelpaw stopped suddenly, causing Leafpaw to ram into her sister's backside, and whatever was behind her to ram into hers. The creature shrieked, and Leafpaw turned to see black smoke—but only for a split second before it vanished.

"W-what was that?" Squirrelpaw stuttered.

Leafpaw was far too enraged to be curious. "Why did you stop?" She growled at her sister. "I told you to keep running."

The ginger she-cat shrugged. "I don't know, something told me to stop." She looked around, her green eyes scrutinizing the entire forest. "Anyway, it seems like my sudden stopping shocked it, so it's gone now, we should keep going."

Leafpaw nodded numbly and the two continued onward. Leafpaw tried to clear her mind of her thoughts of the creature, she even tried to imagine her mother, but her thoughts always returned to the creature and a connection she saw with it. Something she remembered. Eventually, she could hold it in no longer.

"Squirrelpaw," she began uneasily. "Do you remember when we were chased by those black feline creatures? The three of them?"

Squirrelpaw nodded. "Yeah, what about them?"

Leafpaw stopped, as did her sister. "I think what we ran into earlier was one of those creatures."

"Huh? But why would it be all the way out here? We lost saw it in ThunderClan territory, and now it's following us here to SkyClan."

"Distance has nothing to do with it, Squirrelpaw!" she said, her voice quivering with anxiety. "These creatures don't want us to do what we are doing, can't you see that?"

Her sister blinked. "So? Do you think they're going to stop us?" With that, Squirrelpaw turned back around and continued at her leisurely speed through the forest.

"No," the medicine cat apprentice mumbled to herself, "but they're trying to stop us, and I want to know why."

**  
The two spent the night in a long-abandoned badger den. Leafpaw was at first cautious, but Squirrelpaw managed to draw her in with a thought of a dry night for once. The two slept peacefully, without a single dream, and when they awoke, they felt SkyClan was closer than ever before.

Which meant Sandstorm was, too.

"_That_ was refreshing," Leafpaw said after the two had joyfully feasted on two rabbits. Luck was shining on them today, like the warm rays of the sun peeking through the branches overhead. "The best sleep I've ever had _and_ enough food to fill my stomach."

"Yup, today is going to be a good day," Squirrelpaw agreed.

The two set off with a spring in their steps, staring up at the cloudless sky occasionally.

"I wouldn't be surprised if we arrived at SkyClan today," Squirrelpaw said.

"Neither would I," Leafpaw chuckled.

"What do you think we should say when we do arrive? 'Hey, our parents our Sandstorm and Firestar and we were wondering if you knew where our mother is? She's dead, though.'"

Leafpaw laughed again. "Yes! We should do that: I wonder what they would say in response."

"Ah, it'll be good."

"Yeah," Leafpaw breathed. "It'll be perfect."

"Look!" Squirrelpaw leaped into the air. "There, there! There's the river!"

"What?" Leafpaw shouted. "You see the river?"

"Yeah," Squirrelpaw sprinted forward. "We're almost there, Leafpaw, we're almost there!"

Leafpaw raced after her sister, and she was soon able to hear the bubbling of the river she had heard in her dream. The tattoo of her heart began to speed, and she grew lightheaded from joyousness.

When the river entered her sight, she saw her sister leap into it, laughing. Leafpaw stopped at the edge and stared down at the river. There was no sign of her sister, and for a split second she worried if Squirrelpaw had drowned. However, her sister emerged from the water, laughing. "Come on in! The water's great."

Leafpaw chuckled, and leaped into the river with a shriek. The water was cold and refreshing, and it sent chills through her bones. She was not a RiverClan cat, but the water filled her with a fabulous joy. They were so close to SkyClan.

Leafpaw pulled herself onto a large rock in the river, paved with sunlight. She laid on its hot surface and allowed the sun to dry her fur. Squirrelpaw curled up next to her, and the two chuckled at themselves and let their thoughts drift in the silence. They let their minds set on thoughts of the oncoming happiness that would hug them, and of their mother's smiling green eyes they had heard so much of.

The sound of something scurrying in the undergrowth did not disturb them. It was not until a harsh voice shouted something did they arise from their day dreams.

"What are you doing here?"

Leafpaw opened her eyes to see a dark ginger tom not unlike her father, except his shoulders were broad and he was a tabby. His green eyes were bubbling with anger. Behind him were other cats, ones that Leafpaw had never met before.

"Who are you?" Squirrelpaw hissed.

"Does it matter? You are on our territory, and you need to leave."

Squirrelpaw narrowed her eyes. "Really? I didn't smell any borders."

The tom opened his mouth, but before he could utter a word Leafpaw interrupted him. "If this is your territory, then you must be SkyClan, correct?"

The tom's eyes widened. "You know of SkyClan? Then you must be from the other Clans!"

Leafpaw nodded. "Yes, we are from ThunderClan."

His eyes widened further. "Then do you know Firestar?"

"Yes, he's our father."

"Your _father_? And then your mother must be Sandstorm?"

"We don't have time for this!" Squirrelpaw interrupted. "We need to speak to Leafstar."

The tom nodded. "Yes, I'll take you to her now."

A young mottled brown she-cat, younger than the sisters, stepped forward. "So you're going to instantly trust these cats without asking a single question?"

"Shush, Frecklepaw," said a female voice behind her. The source of the voice stepped forward, revealing her to be a surprisingly long-legged black she-cat. Leafpaw gasped: around the she-cat's neck was a kitty-pet collar with moss stuck beneath it. "If SkyClan did not function on trust, do you think we would still be here?"

The tom motioned with his tail. "Come, we'll take you to Leafstar." He turned around and set off, the remainder of the patrol following, but the black she-cat remained.

Leafpaw rose from the rock, her sister along with her. They stepped off of the rock and onto dry land, casting unsure and surprised gazes at the she-cat. She flicked her tail. "My name's Ebonyclaw," she said as they made their way through the gorge. "And I want to apologize for my apprentice's actions earlier."

Leafpaw shook her head. "It is no problem; we can understand why she would be nervous."

"And we have reason to be nervous, too," Squirrelpaw interjected. "You're a kitty-pet!"

Ebonyclaw's eyes glazed over. "Yes, I am. But I am also a warrior. My apprentice, Frecklepaw, is the same. Leafstar calls us "daylight warriors"; during the day, the two of us and four other cats act as though we are Clan cats. We go on patrols, hunt, and train and do as the Clan cats do, but at night we return to our owners. I do enjoy being part of the Clan, everyone coming together, striving for one goal. But, I am not strong enough to leave my Twolegs—I care too much for them and I am too cowardly to leave."

"Wow," said Leafpaw. "That was creative of Leafstar."

Ebonyclaw nodded. "Yes, and I'm grateful that she allows us to do this."

As they journeyed deeper into the gorge, the ThunderClan sisters began scanning the Clan cats, searching for the cats they saw in their dreams. But, none of the cats were familiar to them.

The group of three caught up with the remainder of the patrol, and continued through the gorge in silence. Eventually, they reached a large, pile of stones with a cat-size opening covered by lichen. The ginger tom edged out of the troop and poked his head through the lichen. Leafpaw was unable to hear the words exchange between the ginger tom and the cat inside of the den, but her gut informed her that the tom was speaking with the other cat about Leafpaw and her sister. Barely thirty seconds had gone by when the tom took several steps back, allowing a she-cat to step through.

She was a young, beautiful cat, with long, powerful legs—not unlike most of her Clanmates—and brown and cream splotches. Her amber eyes immediately settled upon Leafpaw and her sister, and they lit up with joy. She advanced towards them, a slight spring in her step.

"My, my," she purred. "You two are the daughters of Sandstorm and Firestar, correct?"

"Yeah," Squirrelpaw said before anything could escape Leafpaw's lips. "I'm Squirrelpaw, and this is my sister, Leafpaw."

The leader's eyes brightened further, and they settled of Leafpaw. "It's fabulous to meet you two; I am Leafstar, the leader of SkyClan."

Leafpaw's heart fluttered; she bore the same first-name as this beautiful leader! She prayed that this beautiful she-cat was her namesake.

Leafstar lifted her head and tasted the air. Her face then furrowed. "Now, where are your parents? They did accompany you, correct?"

Leafpaw shook her head. "No, Firestar does not know we are here."

"What about Sandstorm?"

Leafpaw cast her eyes down to her paws. "She's dead," she whispered.

"Oh no," Leafstar moaned. "That is truly awful, what a loss from this world! I pray that she may be enjoying herself in StarClan, and that she may cast her watchful gaze on the two of you." She shook her head. "I pray she went peacefully and without regret in her heart."

"She died because we were born!" Squirrelpaw yowled. "She died because of us!"

Leafstar's eyes widened. "Wh—what do you mean?"

"She died shortly after the two of us were born," Leafpaw explained, struggling to mask her emotions. "There was nothing wrong with either of our births, they went fine, but afterwards she fell unconscious and when she woke up, she said goodbye to our father and passed into SkyClan."

"That is truly awful," Leafstar sighed. "But you must not blame yourselves; occasionally, such things happen, nothing can be done about them." In an attempt to lighten the mood, she added, "What are you two doing here and why are you not with your father?"

"I would prefer not to have this conversation among all of your Clan," Leafpaw continued. "Could you lead us somewhere where we may speak privately?"

The leader nodded. "I know a good place." She then dismissed her Clan, and then called the ginger tom towards her. She whispered in his ear and he nodded, and then walked off, his ears pressed to the back of his head. She turned and walked off, flicking her tail to tell the sisters to follow.

The two allowed the leader enough of a head start to keep her out of earshot, but near enough so they could see her move.

"Please, Squirrelpaw," Leafpaw begged to her stoic sister. "Try to calm down, you have no reason to be angry with this cats, and we would like to have a good relation with them."

"Look, I'm sorry if I'm not as forgiving as you are, okay? I just don't know what to do, alright? I don't know what I should think about all of this. I'm not sure if we should trust this 'SkyClan' or if they are the reason for Sandstorm's death."

Leafpaw narrowed her eyes. "How could this Clan be the reason for our mother's death? She was not murdered, she was just weak, or something went wrong with our birth that was so miniscule even Cinderpelt was not able to notice it. SkyClan has nothing to do with it, okay?"

Squirrelpaw bit her lip, and Leafpaw decided to instead focus on the SkyClan leader instead of her enraged sister. She watched the confidence with which the she-cat stepped with and tried to mirror it, instead succeeding only in tripping over her own paws. She admired the slight upward curl of the leader's tail and wondered how she held it so high.

The leader began to direct herself towards one of the more rugged walls of the gorge, and began to climb up, placing one paw gingerly after the other. Almost immediately after Leafpaw began scaling the wall, she felt every rock dig into her soft paw pads and was suddenly envious of the gray-colored paw pads of the SkyClan leader, who was climbing with unquestionable ease.

When the trio reached the top of the gorge, Leafpaw gasped at the view offered to her there. The sky had never seemed so blue! The sun never so bright! The trees never so green!

"I know, I was shocked as well when I first came here." Leafstar said, pulling the young medicine-cat's eyes from the awe-striking view. "It's the most beautiful view I've ever seen, and it made me want to live in the gorge as a Clan cat so much more."

"If this is the best view here, why would you think this would be a place where we wouldn't be disturbed?" Squirrelpaw hissed.

"Don't say that!" Leafpaw demanded.

"No, it's alright, she does have a point. And the reason is because no one else in the Clan knows about this place."

"Oh, so you discovered this on your own?" Leafpaw questioned.

The elder she-cat shook her head. "No, your mother showed it to me."

Leafpaw's eyes widened. "Really?"

"Uh-huh," she said, happiness lining her voice. "I still remember that day. Back then, I was still Leaf—it was before I joined the Clan. Your father was set on me joining, saying that because of my long legs and hard paw-pads I was a descendant of SkyClan. However, I did not want to give up my former life, so, one day—no, one night, it was the middle of the night—your mother found me, aroused me and told me she had somewhere she wished to take me. She claimed that if I went with her, she and your father would stop harassing me about joining SkyClan, so I agreed and she led me up here. While I was still mystified by the view, she told me that being in a Clan was like the view you two are examining now. She said that the leader of a Clan was the moon, lightning the night; she said that the deputy was the brightest star, guiding the other clan members through the endless night; medicine cats are the rain, moistening the dry earth; queens are the cooling breeze that says the trees, comforting, and allowing new life to blossom; she said that warriors were the trees, standing strong and tall, unfaltering, protecting the sapling apprentices; elders are the older trees, shriveled and unable to stretch their branches—so the warriors allow enough sunlight to pass through their leaves to keep the elders alive! It is all one grand system, larger than any cat can imagine; but your mother, oh she came so close."

"Can you tell us about her?" Leafpaw mumbled inaudibly.

"Hmm? Did you say something, Leafpaw?"

"Our mother, Sandstorm, we don't know anything about her. Firestar doesn't speak to us about her, and just as soon as we find someone who can tell us about her, Firestar pulls them from our reach."

"Your poor father," Leafstar sighed. "The loss of a loved one is difficult, and Sandstorm was a very special cat."

Squirrelpaw spoke, her voice had stripped itself of its hostile tone and had instead gained an innocent, weak one. "Please tell us about her, Leafstar, you're the only one who can."

The she-cat stared down at the two sisters, and her eyes began to water. "You poor kits."

Iceclaw14: This took me so long to write! Not to mention the fact that it's quite short, but I got a lot in this chapter. Anyway, I'm down on my hands and knees begging you, you amazing reviewers, to please, please send me a summary of _SkyClan's Destiny _in your review. Or, if you are a member of this site, allow me to PM you questions as to my next chapter. I want to incorporate a bit of what happened in that book in this story, as you may have notice with the Ebonyclaw, but please, please someone send me a summary! Please!


	9. Adoption

Iceclaw:14 What? What is this? That story which I put on alert what seems like forever ago has updated? Was the author in a coma for all those years and finally woke up? Will I get to see the end of this story?

The answer to most of this questions is "no." I have not been in a coma, just been growing-up, getting busier, realizing who I am and shit like that.

So why did I put this chapter in this story?

Because I am putting all of my stories up for adoption.

I've been thinking about this for a while and I feel like this is all I can do at this point. Often enough, I think about these barely-started stories on this site and think, "I wish I had finished those." But, honestly, I'm too busy, I don't have the drive anymore. I love them, I do, and I want them to be finished and for everyone who started them to see them to the end, but I just can't at this point.

So, adoption is the happy medium, isn't it?

I have never done adoption before, and I have no idea how it works. I am also rather lazy, so I'm just gonna make up my own rules about how I want the adoption to work and how you can be the one to adopt it.

**You don't need to have a single story up on FF for me to give my story to you**. If you ask me, the purpose of fanfiction is to teach people how to write without having to worry about character development. Thus, by giving someone an already-started fanfic, it would be like a third training wheel on a bike, just for your help. I want to help people get started writing, so you can message me saying you've never written anything other than essays for school and I might still consider you.

**This is not first-come first-served. **I'm choosing the person who adopts the story, not just whoever wants it. Feel free to keep asking for it until I have taken this chapter down and replaced it with information about where you can continue reading the story. I want to give this story to someone who I think will work hard at it and maybe help them grow as a writer.

**Open-adoption? **Again, I have no idea how this adoption thing typically pans out, but I would love to discuss with my potential adoptees how I want the story to end. We could just toss ideas around. I am completely open to you ending the story a little differently than how I planned it, I would just prefer to discuss your ideas with you beforehand so that I don't find a few months later that you decided the best way to end the story was with an apocalypse which killed all the protagonists before the major conflict could be solved. We could even discuss altering some of the bits I have already written or changing the title (Alright, the amnesia thing in Intertwinedwas pretty stupid, as is the title of that story—yes I am copy and pasting this into all o fmy stories, sue me—I'm lazy.)

**Transferring the story.** This might be a little strange, but I would like to keep the part of the story I myself wrote on my own account. There's just a lot of memories associated with this account, and I'd like to keep all my stories there. This will be something I'll have to work out with whoever adopts the story—maybe just link to the first couple chapters here or something, I don't know.

Now that that's done, all we have left to discuss is what will happen with me.

I don't really write fanfiction anymore and, when I do, it's just a one-shot to help me get over Writer's Block. Right now, I've got one FMA, one Legendia, and one Gurren Lagann one sitting around in my head, waiting for when Writer's Block strikes again—and maybe a Tales of Graces one. Just so you know. I'm actually thinking about maybe doing a larger project, but it would be more for fun and less serious than the pieces I am giving out for adoption now. The idea of writing it just fills me with so much nostalgia I can't resist! So you might see that in the near future (it will be ToS, just so you know).

Thank you so much for reading this, for supporting me as you did and still are, and good luck with the adoption. Just PM me if you are !


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